Seyruun High Jinx Summer Special
by Kaeru Shisho
Summary: This is the second story in the four-part High Jinx series. (Completed)
1. Chapter 1

The Slayers: Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part One

June and July

The bicycle ride out of town for five miles to the lake went without a hitch. For once the weather was on their side, blazing hot while the cool breezes flew past. The four boys locked up their bikes as soon as they found their camp and stripped down to swimwear (and t-shirts for some). Gourry and Val raced to the water splashing and diving into the icy wetness and swimming out to the floating island to sun themselves. 

"Come on in!" Gourry shouted and waved to his friends left ashore.

Zel waved back and shook his head. Xelloss looked at him quizzically, "Don't you want to swim?"

"No. I mean, yes I would, but I can't. I sink like a rock. It's okay. I'll just cool my feet and relax here. Go on," Zel flapped his hand at Xelloss, sending him on his way.

"Um… I don't know how to swim, actually," Xelloss mumbled and turned away.

That surprised Zel, "No kidding? You seemed to know everything, do everything and now…"

"Now… what?" Xelloss asked dangerously. He watched Zel quickly fly into a Karate kick, which he dodged then turned, catching Zel's foot and giving it an upward push, flinging his friend over and down into the water with a splash.

"Gah!" Zel gasped for air and righted himself. "You're just an average wuss!" He smirked then flew at his opponent again, this time kicking Xelloss' feet out from under him beneath the water.

Catching his balance moments before hitting the water, Xelloss spun around and clipped Zel's shoulder with a punch.

From the floating island, Gourry and Val were watching the show with amusement and talking.

"Yup, Zel told me 'bout Kagome and Inu breakin' up. Too bad," Gourry said.

"Yeah, that's why I don't push nothin'. This couples-crap don't last long," grumbled Val. He ran a hand through his hair, pushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"Got that right. I can't think of any exactly 'right' couple right now,' Gourry agreed.

"Just one," Val chuckled deep in his throat.

"Huh? Who's that?"

'Over there, look…" Val pointed back to shore.

Xelloss and Zel were leaping and splashing one another at the water's edge. Xelloss had been leading Zel through a Karate training session, landing punches, dodging kicks and remaining untouched. Zel appeared to be angry and frustrated. 

SPLASH! 

Finally Zel's quickness caught Xelloss off guard and he tripped him. Xelloss over-compensated, caught his toe in some rocks and fell down into the shallow water wearing a shocked expression.

The pantomime continued with Zel rushing to his friend's aid, hauling him to his feet, and questioning him. Gourry's keen eye sight could make out what Zel's lips were saying, and he repeated for Val's sake, "Ah…'Sorry, are you okay?'…He says that over and over…and over… Now Xelloss is shakin' his head and sayin' 'How did ya do that? Yeah, okay…'"

Smiling, Gourry watched the two guys plod wet and shivering back to camp. "I see what ya mean. My brother and I were like that once. Real close," his eyes welled up slightly and voice cracked. "Fightn' and all. That's what ya meant, right?"

Val nodded, "Yeah, guess so. They'd both kill me if I suggested otherwise, wouldn't they? I meant that they get along amazingly well. I've listened to them talk together completely involved in some science lab or somethin' and I couldn't understand a word… When we pulled that prank on Xelloss, Zel there relived every moment though the other guy's eyes, like the roles were reversed. He made me sit down with Xelloss and apologize and explained like how he suffered. I think it hurt Zel more than Xelloss! I mean, he really lets down his guard around him like no other—I don't know, when one of them finally gets a girlfriend, I hope she understands that she'll get them both or end their friendship." 

Gourry and Val swam back to shore. Noticing that Gourry seemed a bit low, Val said, "Sorry if I made ya think 'bout …yer past stuff."

"…Not that…" Gourry mumbled, uncharacteristically glum.

What then? Val thought about what he'd said and suddenly knew, "Lina. Gourry, I wasn't mean'n Lina. She's not in love with either of them, I know it. I was there in the house and kin tell. She treats'em like… brothers she can push around and tease a bit, but she don't flirt with'em. Shit, Filia's more of a flirt than Lina, and ya don't see me gettin' all bent out of shape over it."

The two guys met eyes a moment before Val continued, "Well, not much. I know she don't mean nothin' by it. And you do too. When Lina means somethin' emotional, she blushes and mutters. Like when I tried to pin her down and tell me 'bout you savin' her… Whoa…she lost the a-bil-I-tee of speech!"

He could tell his words were helping, since Gourry was looking relieved as the other two wet kids returned from squeezing out their t-shirts and leaving them in the sun to dry. While they dug through their bags to find dry shirts, Val continued in conversation with Gourry at the picnic bench. "I wonder what I'd be like if I'd gotten to know my bothers and sisters. I'da had an older brother like you did…That's why I'm gonna be livin' with those two. It's like family…like it matters if I don't come home some time, or miss my turn doin' dishes or need ta talk…or laugh. 'Course without Rezo there, it'll be different. He could control Xelly-boy over there or at least reign him in some. And Zel, he's liable to…I dunno what happens to him without that stress hangin' over him."

Gourry nodded, "Zel's changin' some. Not Xelloss, though. I like him, ya know. He got me back my family heirloom! I juss don't think I'll ever get him."

"Xelloss? He's not so com-plee-ca-ted. Zel, now that guy's layered."

"Zel's, okay. I know him pretty good and he's a true as they get. Xelloss, I've never been able to completely trust him for some reason. I get the feeling he's always up ta somethin'…"

"That's because he probably is!" Val laughed. "But ya worrin' 'bout Lina an' him too much."

"Some…lots," Gourry chuckled humorously.

"That's 'cause he does with Lina what you'd like ta, huh?" Val watched Gourry nod silently. 

"Not exactly…" Gourry said at last.

"Betcher glad she's back at home again…"

"No kiddin'…" Gourry smiled. "I had some real bad dreams… Lina's so close to Zel, ya know? And Xelloss, he looks at her like…It pisses me off. Lina told me that if he tries anything again, she'd kick his butt outta Seyruun. She's not very..."

"Ro-man-ti-cal-lee in-clined? Yeah, fer sure. And you?" Val asked.

"I'll wait."

"You really like her, doncha?" Val asked.

"Ah… there's no one like her…"

"Ya didn't answer my question, but it's obvious that ya do.'

"Hmmm, I guess it is. Even she knows, though she'd never say anything."

Val clapped him on the shoulder, "Well, that's good! She rejected Xelloss out-right. She'd let ya know if she didn't like yer attention at all, so don't worry. Her silence is like ac-cep-tance."

Gourry smiled, "Yeah, thanks. I think so too."

"Think what?" Xelloss asked cheerfully joining the other two guys at the bench and fussing with his hair.

"Think you're a twit, of course. Why'd you even ask?" Val smirked.

"Oh, I was just surprised to find out that you guys did any thinking at all!" Xelloss smirked back.

Val was about to return a snappy retort, when Zel dropped a heavy bag on the table. "I'll start lunch if you guys help unpack this stuff."

That of course silenced the jibes. For a while… 

Ribbit, ribbit…ribbit, ribbit…

"I hate bugs…"

"Of course. Just ignore them," Zel's sigh blended into the hiss of the grasses in the night air.

"Be a man, Xelly-boy!"

"I AM! I just HATE BUGS! And the ground's hard."

"Not as hard as my fist, now shaddup!" Val snarled.

Slap! 

"Gottem!"

Slap, slap, slap! 

"Grrrrrrrr… they are eating me alive!"

"Good. Then you'll be quiet and we can rent out your room at home."

"Gour-ry?"

"Huh? What's up, Xelloss?"

"Is this fun we're having? Tell me. People do this for fun? My butt's sore from riding, my ankle from that damned rock, I'm dirty and need a shower, my hair's gonna look like hell in the morning, not to mention the blood-sucking mosquitoes and the…mmmphf!"

"Thanks, whoever shut him up," Zel sighed.

Gourry's low voice rose over the squealing beside him, "My pleasure, but he's stronger than he looks. I can't hold his shirt in his mouth much longer."

"Too bad. Xelloss, stop whining and turn over and shut up or we'll tie you up and leave you here to rot!" Zel growled.

Contrite, Xelloss spat out the cloth and sniffed, "I just needed to vent a little. I'll be fine."

"I don't care. Just be quiet!"

"Hmmm. What's this?"

"Nothing."

"Oooooo- kay."

Sometime later, Val let out a bloody-roar, "AAARGH!! Get it OFF ME!"

He was sitting up on his sleeping bag batting at his hair furiously. Xelloss languidly reached over and disentangled a small frog from the long green hair.

"Ah! WHAT WAS the damned thing?" Val shook.

"Nothing," Xelloss smiled.

"NOTHING?! That's SOMETHING in your hand!"

"Zelgadiss called it a 'nothing' when it hopped on me so I tossed 'nothing' into the air and just now…pulled 'nothing' out of your hair," Xelloss smirked.

Val glared at the guy smiling beside him, reeled off a few curses and flopped back down into his sleeping bag.

"Okay…" Xelloss snickered as he snuggled into his bag. "I SEE…This IS fun…"

~*~

Lina and Amelia had been busy planning and scheduling the band for rooms at cheap motels, t-shirt printing, and another appointment with Macross recording studio during their two-day run of gigs in Atlas City.

Filia joined in the planning session and insisted that they schedule in a visit—no, a VACATION to Wolfpack island 'while they were already at the beach' and a stop-over at the clan for an overnight and visit with little Quinny. "He's gotten very attached to Val and I want him to know you guys too!"

"Fine with me, but this will play havoc with Val's work schedule," Lina said putting down the calendar at last and grabbing a handful of potato chips. "So, there's the plan for the rest of June, July, and those parts of August we trail the Seven around. That leaves the last part of August open when Sylphiel's gone to Japan with her mom for doing whatever."

Knock, knock…

"I'll get it!" Amelia assured her. "Must be Miss Sylphiel fashionably late."

"Oh, and Val's going to the Ancient Clan ruins in August too," Filia added, scribbling in a few more notes on the calendar.

"Hi everyone, sorry I'm late, but Zangulus called to find out when he's needed to come over and practice Zel's song. I didn't know but told him to call Xelloss tonight. They get back tonight, right?"

Sylphiel collapsed on the floor next to Amelia. Amelia knew this work had to be done and if the guys could play, the girls could have their own overnight party. The mayor was thrilled to have them all over, and so they were going to finish the plans, hot tub a bit, eat dinner then… party on!

"HA!" Lina laughed. "I bet they rode home as soon as the sun came up and are sleeping the rest of the day!"

"Miss Lina!" Amelia smiled. "What makes you think that? Mr. Gourry's an experienced camper and Mr. Zelgadiss and Mr. Val aren't particular and…"

"And the big wimp's probably kept them all awake whining about the poor accommodations and his hair," Lina sighed.

"No kidding," chuckled Filia. "Poor Gourry. He's such an easy going guy and probably too nice to clobber him good. Not Val though. By the way what special thing should we do for Gourry's birthday?"

"I'll make his cake. I've always wanted to make him the most special one…and…if that's okay with you, Lina?" Sylphiel asked tentatively. 

"Might as well. Let's see, looks like we can be at Wolfpack by then. He likes camping so it should be a camping trip under the stars with plenty of food. I'll see what Zel add to the plan, better yet… what Xelloss will do for me… and get back to ya," Lina finished.

"Camping? I was looking forward to the luxury of a fancy resort. Oh well, for Gourry's sake…" Filia sighed wistfully, then shook it off and added, "Hey, who cares about them anyway? I'm ready to soak with those jets on HIGH!"

"Yes!" cried the others, leaping up and scampering out the door and up the path to the enclosure.

~*~

It was agreed. After the beach gigs, the Slayers would take a vacation, one night on Wolfpack Island, the next at Filia's settlement, one night at home, then off to Atlas City for more jobs and the recording session. Whew! July was gonna be hot!

Wolfpack island……………………………………. 

"Oh…Mr. Xelloss this place is… amazing! And you really have never been here before?" Amelia asked, transfixed by the natural beauty of the forest-covered hill behind the cove where their boat was being unloaded.

"Ah, that's right, Miss Amelia. This was syndicate headquarters for my…for Zelas and, until recently, I was not a part of that cozy establishment," Xelloss said smiling calmly.

"Yeah, why spoil the mood by bringin' yer kid along?" Val mused.

"So, tell me again why we had to bring all this camping gear when a perfectly lovely resort stands empty 200 yards away?" Filia asked, glancing meaningfully at Lina.

"Because Xelloss got the 'camping spirit'. Thanks loads, Zel," Lina grumbled.

"You're welcome, but you have Gourry to thank as well, Lina. He made our last camping experience worth repeating. Yes, our Gourry's a regular Boy Scout…" Zel began. It had been Lina's idea, this camping out stuff for Gourry's birthday, but Gourry didn't know about any birthday celebration plans.

"That's Eagle Scout, Zel. I'm more of a scout co-leader now fer my brothers. So, where do we set up camp? It's gonna be lunch time real soon and…" he lowered his voice to Zel, "Ya know what Lina's like if we make her wait."

Xelloss raised an eyebrow, "Well, according to my map…we follow that trail to the right around to the other side of the cove and into the woods. Shouldn't be too far."

"How would YOU know, does that map have mileage too?" Lina asked testily.

"Ah…no. I think maybe those picnic benches over there would be far enough for now, hmmm?" he smiled at Lina, who nodded in return.

Zelgadiss was all ready to try for the woods, but Gourry stopped him with a hand. "We oughtta stick together."

"You mean cave in to Lina's every whim? Why do I feel like I'm walking on egg-shells around her? We're men, dammit, and if we want to hike first and eat later then we should have an equal vote too!" Zel argued.

"Ah…um…you've got the food, Zel, and Lina's lookin' for it so, if ya don't mind, I'll take it," Gourry offered.

Zel passed him the sacks and called out, "I'm following the trail Xelloss pointed out. See you later." In an instant, he was out of sight.

Heading over to the picnic tables, Gourry was accosted by Amelia, "Is he okay? Did something make him mad?"

"Who? Zel? Ah, he's not hungry and wanted to walk some. We'll meet up on the trail." Then, seeing that Amelia was still straining to see Zel's retreating figure, he added, "Why doncha help me get the food out so we can get started sooner?"

"Good idea, Mr. Gourry! Mr. Xelloss already has the tablecloth laid out, so I'll find the plates and cups…"

"Tablecloth!?" Val snorted. "This ain't no camp out! It's a fairy party agin!"

"There's nothing wrong about eating off a clean table," Sylphiel said supportively.

"Thank you, Sylphiel," Xelloss smiled appreciatively. "Maybe you and Filia would like to collect some wild flowers for the table?"

"Xelloss, you idiot! You must be kidding! Start passing the food around, sit down, and shuttup," Lina ordered. "Gimme that one of fried chicken to start, why doncha?"

Halfway into her third course, Lina was all smiles and conversation. "So, Filia, you've been here before. Tell me about the place."

"You know, I didn't get to see much from the helicopter. Mostly wet, dark rock…Val?" Filia jabbed his shoulder to tear his attention away from Amelia's story about their hot-tub adventure.

"…And then…ha, ha… it was sooo funny! Lina's bathing suit just sorta dissolved…you know the stretchy Lycra part falls apart after awhile if the chlorine damages it?"

"No… I didn't," Val said, a leerish smile spreading across his face.

"Well it does and we were jumping around when the top and bottom separated with a rip and…"

"VAL!" Filia snapped. 

"Huh? I was listenin' to Amelia tellin' how Lina's bathing suit fell apart. Did ya bring a new one Lina?" Val grinned.

Filia looked at Lina, who was already on the move. Before Val had a chance to stop her, Lina had his face in his salad and was growling, "No! I'm wearin' yours with a t-shirt. Got that? Good. Now, tell me about this place!"

Val shook the lettuce free with a toss of his head. "Rocks, rocks, and, guess what? Yeah, more rocks. Oh, and wolves… I was at the ree-zort end playin' ninja."

"Mr. Val? Aren't there some nice beaches too?"

"Must be 'cause the po-lice hauled their boats onto the shore someplace over there."

"Are there many wolves here still, Xelly? I was told they were mostly killed to make the resort safer," Filia asked.

"Wolves? Oh, yes, Filly. Lots still. I think the syndicate was actually bringing in new breeding stock to make them particularly blood-thirsty."

"Nonsense. I mean seriously, Xelloss. Isn't that wolf-dog of yours the last of the natives from this island?"

"Beast? Not the last. As I was told, a pet dog, gutsy guy, made friends with a young wolf bitch and the resulting half-breed pups were mostly killed. Beast was saved and made into a pet, mine initially, but I wasn't fond of dogs, I'm afraid. He does seem to have attached himself to Zelgadiss in his old age," Xelloss poured himself some tea from a thermos and tilted his head toward Filia.

"Tea? Yes, thank you. You should try using honey rather than so much sugar. It's possibly better for you."

"Okay, but put in lots. I like it sweet!"

"I like honey. It's the best bee-puke you've ever tasted!" Lina said, dunking a cookie into her soda.

Xelloss scrunched up his face, "Lina, you can be so vulgar at times…"

"Ooooooo, Mr. Sensitivity," Val chuckled. "Good cookies. You mak'em Sylph?"

"Uh, huh… It's that special recipe I tried in fall. The secret is to…" she began.

"Oh, no, Miss Sylphiel!" Xelloss smiled. "You must learn to keep your secrets."

"Spoken by the master…" Filia observed.

"Well, I'm done. Where did you say Zel's run off to, Gourry? Xelloss' path? We'd better go see if he's fallen into a trap or something. Come on!" Lina commanded since her stomach was now filled and was bored with the company, not being the center of attention.

Clearing the papers and crumbs, tossing the garbage, and packing up the remainder was accomplished in a matter of minutes, then the group gathered the rest of their gear and headed off on their adventure.

"I love smell of the fresh sea air," Sylphiel said aloud to no one in particular.

"Yeah, that reek of dead fish and rotting seaweed can't be beat," said Lina.

"Miss Lina!" Amelia cried. "I smell no such thing!"

"Oh? I suppose you prefer the stench of sweaty bodies all oiled and broiling in the sun mixed in as well?" Lina added with an impish grin.

"It depends WHOSE body it is," giggled Sylphiel.

"Umm, the damp salty tang off the ocean can be quite stimulating as well," Xelloss smiled as he brought up the rear.

"To a fish…" Filia said. "I prefer the woodsy smells, personally. Are we camping in the cove by the water or up in the forest?"

"Ah, the forest, if we follow the path to the end. No smelly fish there!" Xelloss said.

"Just wet wolf…" grunted Val. He and Gourry were shouldering Zel's portion of the load as well, and even if eating part of it had lightened the burden somewhat, the packs still felt uncomfortable.

"Hey, ah…I see Zel…um…dancing in the water, I think," Gourry said as he waved to the tiny far-off figure.

"Dancing? Zel? Maybe you need glasses, Gourry. 'Course, I can't even see him," Lina said squinting into the distance. "Oh, yeah, sure. That's him all right, with a long stick."

"Practicing for his first lesson with the great swordsman, Kenshin Himura," Xelloss said. "Just a guess…"

"He's starting lessons with HIM? Why didn't he tell us?" Lina demanded.

"I could be wrong…" Xelloss said in a low voice and dropped back again. Perhaps Zel wanted no one to know that. Ah, well, too late for that. The secret was out of the bag. However, Zel didn't look too upset when Lina marched up to the water's edge and asked about it. Lina rolled up her pant-legs and joined him in a walk along the shore.

It didn't take long before everyone was doing the same thing and enjoying the soothing regularity of the ebb and flow of gentle waves and cool splashes.

"So Xelloss…Now where did that goofus get off to now. I swear, if it isn't Zel it's Xelly off on a quest of some kind!" Filia commented with a shrug. "Val? Val, so what do you think lives in the forests here? It's an island so not many animals live here, huh?"

"Must be something big if there're wolves. That is… unless the syndicate fed their enemies to 'em, heh, heh…" he chuckled.

"Oooooooh, that's awful, Val!" squealed Sylphiel, then as they all caught up with Zel and Lina shouted, "Lina! Did you hear that? It might even be true!!"

"Then you'll be happy to know that Zel's got his cellphone," Lina said. "Nerd…."

"Um…me too. Be prepared, ya know. Someone could break a leg or get sick. I packed a first aid kit with bug repellant too," Gourry added.

"You expecting a bug infestation in the forest?" Lina asked.

"Maybe…"

"Did you bring a gag too?" Zel asked. 

"A Gag? Like a joke, Mr. Zelgadiss?"

"Nah, he means somethin' to silence the big whining bug, and I'm not talkin' insect here either," Val patted Amelia on the head. "Hey, you growin'? Sure yer are! Yer 'bout the same as Lina now, or maybe it's those shorts that make yer legs look longer."

"Was that a compliment coming from you Mr. Val? Thanks! I have grown some. I need some new clothes. I barely fit in these," she said.

"Let me see…" Val stopped and turned her around. "Don't change nothin' for me."

Blushing from all his attention, Amelia cleared her throat and hopped away from his searching eyes. "Oh…you're such a kidder!"

Lina watched the odd duo with interest. "Hey, Zel, go see if Amelia's okay. Why? Because she looks flustered and Val had his big fat hands on her, that's why. No, I don't think he's messing around, more like messing with her head. Now go chat her up and see if there's a problem."

"Of course, madam. At your service oh fearless leader…" Zel shook his head, but walked back toward Amelia anyway. "So… "

"Yes, Mr. Zelgadiss?"

"Something…bothering you?" Zel stammered uncomfortably. "Lina thought that Val might have embarrassed you."

"Lina thought? How about you? Can't you speak for yourself?" asked Filia as she sidled up to Amelia for the same reason Zel had.

"Filia, I wasn't speaking to you, but for your information, I was talking to Gourry and not watching Val and Amelia carrying on…or worrying about them either. As Amelia's made clear to me on more than one occasion, she's a big girl now and can take care of herself. I was only passing on Lina's concerns as her mindless lackey." He gave Amelia one quick glance, then turned away to walk alone awhile.

"Well, that was interesting," Filia mused.

"No it wasn't," Amelia said with a touch of irritation. "I never even got to talk to him! I NEVER get to just talk to him, and he NEVER approaches me first like that!"

"What I meant was…he talks to Lina and to me with ease, but when he speaks to you, he gets all nervous. That means that…" Filia begins.

"It means that we don't get the opportunity to talk together very often so that when we do he has trouble getting started. That's all, Miss Filia!" Amelia snapped and skipped off to join Zelgadiss on his lonely stroll.

"That too…" Filia whispered to herself. "Because poor Mr. Zel gets distracted when he looks at you, Little Miss Amelia…"

Amelia ran up alongside Zel and asked breathlessly, "So, do you think both Mr. Val and Miss Filia are so bored that they have to pick on you and me for something interesting to do?"

"Ah…that's a possibility I hadn't thought of. We must be the types that attract busy-bodies that can't seem to mind their own businesses," he smiled.

"Yes! We seem content and at peace and some people just can't stand that, I guess. Like…Mr. Xelloss. He's another one always creating chaos somehow. By the way, do you know where he might be?"

"I believe he mentioned something about finding a bathroom…"

"Out here? Maybe he decided to go all the way back to the resort…or… you don't think he went on ahead to the camping area, do you?"

"How would I know?"

"Well, he's been gone over half an hour. He might be lost. Shouldn't we go look for him?"

"No. I don't. He has the map. I'm sure he can find his way around just fine. He's a big boy now, Amelia. Don't worry…"

"LOST?" Sylphiel's wail could be heard from one end of the cove to the other. "Did you say Xelloss is LOST? What if he's hurt or sick or…"

"Or the WOLVES have gotten him?" Val snarled in her ear, causing her to release a near-deafening scream.

"Oh, Amelia…Zel…we've GOT to FIND him!" she cried.

"Oh for the love of … Sylphiel, calm down!" shouted Lina above the din. "Zel, why don't you go…"

"No! I'm not hunting down Xelloss. He can go to the bathroom all by himself, Lina. I'm not…I repeat, NOT going to go look for him! OH, no…and you are not going to bat your eyelashes and get Gourry to go do your bidding either!"

"Come on, Sylphiel," Amelia said grabbing her friend's wrist. "I'll go with you. We'll stick to the path and go back the way we came and see if he went that way…"

"Oh, shit…" Zel hissed. "Amelia, stop. Why don't you and everyone else start heading up the trail to our campsite. It can't be far and it gets us closer to making some progress…"

"Then you'll go back and look?" Sylphiel sniffed, eyes welling over with tears.

"Of course he will," Amelia assured her. "He's the fastest person here. He can run all the way back to the boat launch and back before we get turned around. If anyone can find him…if he went that way, Mr. Zelgadiss will certainly find him." And with that vote of confidence, Zel had no choice but to plod on back to the beginning of the trail, where he of course knew he'd find Xelloss.

A few minutes later, Zel waved, "Everything all right?"

Xelloss put away his cellphone and nodded, "A-O-K! Say, Zelgadiss, taking a stroll in the wrong direction, are you?"

"Yes. I prevented the Amelia-Sylphiel Justice corps from dragging everyone this way looking for you. Hopefully by this time they've all managed to find our campground."

"Oh, that's good isn't it? By the time you and I show up, all the hard work should be done!" Xelloss chortled.

"I just hope that they've all worked out who sleeps where so I don't have to listen to the arguments," Zel sighed, falling in step with Xelloss.

"Yep! Like I said, all the hard work will be over with!" He smiled and Zel chuckled in agreement.

"Let's see if we can guess… I'll be stuck between…either you and Val or you and Gourry since none of the girls trust me. Right? You will be next to me and… Lina… or Amelia, depends on who wins...Hey ouch! stop hitting me!"

"Well, cut out the teasing, then. I think that Lina will have a line drawn, maybe a tree felled as a barrier, to separate the 'boys' side from the 'girls'," Zel smiled smugly.

"How boring…plus that won't work well with what I have planned…" Xelloss winked.

"Of course not."

"Indeed…Of course not," Xelloss smiled. "That's why I suggested to Gourry that he offer an alternate plan. Coming from him, everyone will find it completely innocent and safe."

"Oh, of course. How did you fix that, if I may be so bold?"

"You may…but you know…that…that's a secret!" Xelloss smiled.

~*~

"Here they come AT LAST!" Amelia cried. "And, Miss Sylphiel, Mr. Xelloss has all his parts attached, too!"

Sylphiel push out of Amelia's supporting arms and flew to Xelloss, bursting out into tears of joy, "YOU'RE ALRIGHT!" sniff, sniff… Í was SO worried that some awful creature had caught you and… and…"

Lina snorted, "No such luck…He's practically immortal. Zel? I need your opinion here. Gourry suggested we draw for places to sleep and strangely he already had… ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?! "

"Everything looks fine to me Lina. I don't really care where I am since I probably won't be getting any sleep. I'll be setting up the cooking supplies, unless you need my vital opinion on another subject?"

Lina gave him a dark look then brightened, "Nah, go ahead. I got other fish ta fry!"

However, Lina's fish would have to wait. Zel perked up and turned away.

"What? You hear something I don't?" Lina asked.

"Yes. Xelloss, we should go meet the dinner delivery service. No, the rest of you should remain here," Zel said with a sly smile rarely seen on his face.

"What do you suppose it is, Lina?" Gourry ventured. "Ah… I can see a helicopter landing beyond the trees."

"It has to do with food and… that's enough. Get the table ready!"

"I thought Mr. Zelgadiss' pack was a little light for carrying dinner for eight," Amelia mused. "Leave it Mr. Xelloss to utilize helicopters for a campout!"

``````````

"Thank you for making this more difficult landing spot at the last minute," Xelloss apologized to the pilot. "Ah…put that over there… Careful! That's very fragile! Sylphiel's masterpiece! Zel? How many parcels? Everything then? No, we'll be fine tonight, thank you."

"Have fun, kids," the pilot smiled. "I'll be a phone call away if you have any kind of emergency."

"Thanks!" Xelloss waved him off.

"We'll need help carrying this stuff," Zel sighed, tired from hiking and hauling already.

"We'll make two trips, then. Mustn't risk spoiling the fun!"

"Oh, yes, the fun…Fine."

"Oh, goody! This will be a surprise for sure," Xelloss smiled and started down the hill to the campsite with Zel loaded down bringing up the rear.

`````````

"Wow! Zel, that's a lot of food," Gourry gasped with admiration.

"One more trip for the piece de resistance," Xelloss smiled. "Filia, Amelia, go ahead and start spreading out the goodies. We'll be right back in a jiffy. Lina? Everything meet with your approval?"

She smiled, "So far, so good… as ordered."

"Your wish, is my command…always!" he smiled and skipped off behind Zel to pick up the final load from the helicopter delivery.

Gourry looked askance at Lina.

"What? You don't think he'd try and pull off something with out me knowin' about it, huh?" Lina asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Oh… it's okay then," he smiled. 

```````

"So whaddya think?" Lina asked Gourry between bites.

"All my favorites, Lina. Thanks guys, I… really didn't expect you'd all remember it was my birthday and all."

"Mr. Gourry! Just because your birthday doesn't land on a holiday doesn't mean we'd forget YOU!" Amelia chuckled softly.

"All we need is a cake," Val said. His golden eyes met Xelloss' nearly invisible purple ones. "That's your cue to pull one out of the air magically."

"Oooo-kay. Sylphiel? For my next act, I'll need a lovely assistant. Female, sorry, Zelgadiss," he smiled.

Zel simply rolled his eyes.

Xelloss directed her out of sight where they carefully removed the beautiful cake creation from its packaging and decorated it with lit candles. They both stood back and observed the result a moment. "Lovely…" he smiled. "Shall I carry it in? Okay…you can carry the presents, yes? And start the song too?"

"Happy birthday… to yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. Happy birthday… to yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu… Happy birthday… dear Gour-reeeeeeeeeeee! Happy birthday… to yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

He was most terribly pleased. Lina had directed Xelloss concerning which favorite foods to serve, and Sylphiel had poured every ounce of feeling into creating a multi-layered cake that melted in your mouth with each bite. "Oh, Gourry dear, I made it just for you!"

"She hasn't given up on Mr. Gourry!" Amelia thought to herself. "She must be VERY persistent!"

All his closest friends were there—happy, not fighting, and surrounded by the great outdoors and a spirit of adventure. It was perfect. He was melting in the warmth of their shared joy. 

"Ah, Gourry, now don't ya do all soft and mushy on us," Val chided him. "Hang tough, man."

"Here's another present to open," Sylphiel offered him a flat one.

Gourry ripped off the paper, "New bass strings, thanks. How many sets are there? Ten? That should do me for the summer!" 

"Hey! Open mine next!" shouted Lina, shoving a heavy one onto his lap.

"Hmmm, I wonder… okay, I'll open it, " Gourry smiled and carefully removed the paper. After all, Lina had wrapped it with her own fingers. "New CDs!"

"Uh, huh, for next time I stay over. I don't wanna get stuck listen'n to your sister's crappy pop-tart diva again," Lina grinned.

"Next time? Yeah…" he grinned.

~*~

"So, now what?" Filia asked, squirming to find comfort inside her sleeping bag. "Xelloss? I'm sure you have some good stories to tell."

"Why thank you, Filia. I was saving a few for a night like this. Tales from the high school?"

"No school reminders!" Sylphiel squealed. 

"How about the time Gaav and I went fishing. Now those were the best of times and the worst of times…"

"Don't be silly either…"

Woooooo OOOOOHooooooooOOOOOOOooooooooo! 

"W H A T W A S T H A T ??????!!!!!!!" several kids voiced together.

"Wolves," Xelloss said in an eerie low voice, then more cheerily he added, "but they sound far away. Don't worry, everything will be all right!"

He sat up and wrapped his dark blanket tightly around his bare shoulders. "Wolves are interesting animals, actually. One of 35 species in the Canine family, very alert, cunning animals active both day AND night! Of the canine family, only some foxes can climb trees, so if you're REALLY worried…that one looks easy enough to climb, Filia."

She didn't think so.

"Anyway…" he continued his lecture. "Wolves travel in bands that arise from family groups of as many as 30 individuals. Oh, they don't all hunt together, Filia! A single member of the family starts the hunt with the others of the pack lending a tooth or claw as needed later. They probably know we're around because of that acute hearing of theirs. Of course, they hunt mainly by scent and usually obtain their prey by swift and open chase. Not much room for that around here, eh?"

"Can we c-c-change the subject, Mr. Xelloss?" Amelia said in a tiny voice.

SWOOSH! 

"W-w-what was thaat?!" squealed Sylphiel.

"Bats," Xelloss supplied before anyone else knew what was flitting overhead. "This island is also known for its cave-dwelling bat colonies. Filia? Are you paying close attention? You are at the top of the list to be the conservator of my little island here…"

"MY island now…or at least my clan's," she corrected. "What list?"

"Yours, of course…" he acquiesced graciously. "Why, my list! I recommended you to the directorship position. As the spokesperson to protect the rare and endangered species of this self-contained island; when you've finished school, that is."

"Hey, that sounds like a good job for you!" Gourry congratulated her.

"Actually, it does…" Filia said suspiciously. "Thank you, Xelly-poo, for thinking of me…"

"You are most welcome, Filly-boo. Now, a story Ahem," he cleared his throat and put a finger to his lips in thought. "Got one!"

"Long ago, before this island was inhabited by the syndicate, pirates used its natural caves for hiding from the Seyruun Navy and stashing their ill-gotten goods."

Xelloss paused to stir up the coals and send sparks flying and a couple tongues of flame shooting into the air. He checked to see if everyone was listening. Lina's eyes reflected the fire and burned bright with anticipation; she loved pirates! Zel was lying on his back staring up through the trees, and listening for something. Val's eyes were closed and his face relaxed and calm. Gourry was intent on watching the fire. Amelia and Sylphiel were scrunched up close together, eyes glittering and expectant. Filia was watching for bats, gazing upwards, eyes on the alert. Good. He had a captive audience.

"The pirate known and feared above all others was known as, Yami–no-Hito…man of darkness. He was, ah… Japanese mostly, I believe. His ship was long and painted smoke-colored so it was nearly impossible to see in the fogs which hung densely around the island. That's why we're up here, by the way. It gets quite damp camping by the cove, Rezo told me," Xelloss said in passing.

"He was the man responsible for bringing the wolves to the island…"

"Rezo? He must be REALLY old then, huh Zel?"

"No. Xelloss was referring to the pirate," Zel muttered.

"Oh…right…" Gourry sighed. "So what was the island called back then?"

"Good question! If we could see the caves, the name would make sense, but we're not in the right place. From a ship at sea the upper-most rock outcropping often can be seen sticking up out of the fog. If the pirates were in the caves…in those rocks… fires lit… with smoke and light flickering from the largest openings, it would look very much like a human scull with glowing eyes. Thus the name… Island of No Return…"

"Sounds like the name of a 'B' horror flick to me," Lina said.

"Of course the place was surrounded by some terrible rocks that messed with ships too," he asked to satisfy the skeptics.

"So, Yami–no-Hito brought wolves to the island both to frighten unwanted visitors away and for his men to test their mettle in hand-to-hand combat, that is, hand-to paw…"

Woooooo OOOOOHooooooooOOOOOOOooooooooo! 

"AH!" screamed Sylphiel and Amelia both. 

Filia slid under her covers and whimpered, while Val, on full alert, sat up tension showing in the line of his jaw. "Sounds like just one…not far off."

"NO use bringing along the whole family if the prey's going to resist…" Zel muttered to himself. "Besides the wolves get fed here, father told me. I wouldn't worry. Ah, Amelia…you can let go of my arm now."

"But, Mr. Zelgadiss! No one's been here to feed them, HAVE THEY?!"

"Oopsie! Well, it hasn't been THAT long. And I'm sure there's plenty of natural food," Xelloss began in a strained voice.

"I'm sure," Zelgadiss sighed. "Please, Amelia, let me get up. I have to, um… visit the bathroom…"

"Oh, sorry! Isn't it awfully dark?"

"Light, dark…doesn't change a thing…"

"Here then, take my flashlight. I'll feel better!" her voice wavered with concern.

"All right…" he sighed and took the small cylinder from her hand. Flicking it on, he used the dim glow to find his way to the path. Once out of sight of the camp, he withdrew a much bigger one from under his sweatshirt, turned it on, and ran up the path in the direction where the helicopter had landed earlier.

Woooooo OOOOOHooooooooOOOOOOOooooooooo! Woo, hoo, hoo,HooooooooOOOOOOOooooooooo! 

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Poor Mr. Zelgadiss! He'll be eaten alive!"

"It's probably not a good idea for him to be out there all alone. Separate the smaller, weaker one from the group then…Grrrrrr snap!" Xelloss demonstrated using two hands like gaping maws.

"I notice you only say that about him after he's left, " Filia pointed out.

Woof, Woof, WOOOOOHooooooooOOOOOOOooooooooo! 

"I-I think it's getting closer!" Sylphiel wailed.

Wooooooh! Pant, pant…snarl…

"Oh Gods it IS!" Filia joined in with the rising hysteria.

"Oh, my, that doesn't bode well for our missing friend," Xelloss murmured.

"MR. XELLOSS! DO SOMETHING!" Amelia cried.

Moving quickly to the side and around behind Filia, Xelloss replied softly, "As you wish…"

Woof, Woof, Wooooooh! 

Pant, pant… snarl…

WOOOOOHooooooooOOOOOOOooooooooo! 

Pant, pant… snarl…

The huge snarling wolf burst out of the darkness, leaping high over the coals, flames licking at it's pale underbelly. Gourry crouched protectively over Lina and blocking the beast's path to Amelia and Sylphiel to one side, while Val dove in front of Filia, effectively putting himself between the wolf and Filia and Xelloss and, as it turned out, Zel.

Pant, pant… whine, whine, lick, lick…

OOF! 

Val took the full force of the animal's weight in the chest, knocking him flat on his back. 

"Oh!" chuckled Xelloss as reality settled in on the others. "Val just might get licked to death!"

Sweet, dear old Beast, released from his cage by Zel, followed his favorite boy down the path to a collection of all his missing pack. He slathered Val a minute, then Xelloss, then finally made his way to his goal, Zelgadiss, whom he nuzzled and whined over in joy. Beast conquered all and found his boys unharmed; he was a happy dog, a satisfied dog, and a very tired dog. While Val and Lina were taking turns chewing out Xelloss for his practical joke, Zelgadiss slipped into his sleeping bag with his wolf rug at his feet, and instantly fell asleep. It had been a very long day.

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part One. ~*~


	2. Chapter 2

The Slayers: Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Two

July

"'The long and winding road---dum dum, dum dum—'"

"Will you make him shut up?"

"You're closer," Zel sighed and began digging in his backpack for headphones and his personal CD player. Anything to escape the nerve-wracking chaos of this road trip.

An assortment of Slayers and Suzaku Seven members were seated in the Amelia van with the instruments. The remaining band remnants and the sound equipment, plus most of the other baggage, were piled into the Suzaku vehicle, which was directly in front of them. Oh, except for lead pretty-boy Tamahome and his two fangirls, who had a private car. At least Hotohori was with them, to keep him honest. Of course, that may have been a problem itself…

The country roads were deserted, the sun had sunk beneath the forested mountains, and the insanity was rising with the moon.

Zel, Xelloss, and Amelia were the Slayers in the van. There were also four of the Seven, little Chiriko, Amelia's friend, Nuriko, who was driving, and the coarse, most tolerable (to Zel, at least), Tasuki. Chichiri was also there, but he was sleeping, so they forgot about him. 

The layout was such: Nuriko driving with his buddy, Xelloss, in the passenger seat, both of them now warbling along to a Beatles CD. Behind them, the suffering Zel and Tasuki, with the slumbering Chichiri and the two youngest members in back, holding a few of the most delicate instruments and talking cheerfully together. Between the divas in front and the giggles in back, Zel and Tasuki were going quite mad.

For Zel, part of the madness was really a strange, indeterminable anger he felt whenever Amelia and Chiriko hung out together. Why would he be jealous? He didn't WANT her attention, so why did it bug him that someone else was getting it? And of course, it was his lack of understanding of the whole deal that was really driving him crazy…

"Damnit, you'd think they get all their singin' outta their systems when they do it for a livin', but those two STILL won't shut up…" the red-haired guy moaned.

"They just love the sound of their own voices. Damn, the batteries are dead in this thing! Why do I always forget to replace them?"

"It's karma. You were gonna sit there all blissfully in yer own world, leavin' me to suffer, so the gods punished you by draining your batteries. Heh."

"Great…karma is back on my case. So why doesn't it ever punish Xelloss, who makes people suffer?" Zel wondered.

"Maybe because he's already been punished enough."

Silence. The dark trees swept by outside their windows, the stars came out. They'd be at the beach in a quarter-hour, maybe.

"Damn, that was too serious fer me. I'm gonna crash and burn if we don't get ta that hotel soon," Tasuki complained. 

"And we could have slept on the way here if not for the karaoke going on in the front seat…"

"What kind of monster is Chichiri to be able to sleep through that racket?"

"A lucky one…Least we only have one girl with us in this van. How do you guys manage to all get along anyway? Girls have so many problems and whine…"

"'Get back, get back, get back to where you once be-longed, oh yeah,'" the purple-haired duo sang in harmony, loud enough that the original music was nearly lost beneath their voices. 

"Ah, first, Lina's one of the 'girls' you were speaking of," Zel tried to answer over the din. "She makes us get along. Amelia and Sylphiel are well-behaved, for the most part, so is Filia actually but she's louder and bossier. In the end, we all seem to mesh well…if everyone would just mind their own business. Oh, I didn't mean you, I meant…Filia plays match-maker and Xelloss is interested in any girl who'll give him the time of day and some that won't. Gourry stays on the fringes and watches, ready to save Lina from whatever she can't handle, which YOU know isn't much. Val's fine unless Filia's flirting or ignoring him, which is a 50/50 proposition. I…I used to be aloof and free of worries but now I've been incorporated and do what ever Lina tells me to do and keep a wary eye on the lunatic, ah Xelloss," Zel sighed and rested his head on the back of the seat uncomfortably.

"So the girls aren't the problem, huh? I guess it's odd, but sometimes I really can't stand them, girls, any of them. Some are okay though, like Lina and Miaka," Tasuki sighed.

Zel opened one eye and viewed the other guy from the side, "I understand. Really, I DO! However, I don't get the Miaka thing you all have got going, but that's all right, you don't have to explain."

"Good, I don't think I could. So you and that guy share a house?"

"And Val. My father's moving out to his own place, so it'll me just the three of us sometime this summer, and Val spends time out at the clan settlement. That leaves Xelloss and me to fend for ourselves. I look forward to the relative peace that conjures up. Last year was…hell."

"Hey, little brother!" Xelloss turned his way smiling. "Join us on the next song!"

"Brother? You two aren't related, are you?" Tasuki asked incredulously.

Zel looked back and smirked, "In a way we're all related…"

In the other van, the back-up Slayers girls, Filia and Sylphiel, were unabashedly flirting with Mitsukage, who politely feigned oblivion. He had brought along a few text books for studying—he was in medical school, and even in his time off, he kept up his pursuit of learning. 

Val looked dangerous in the back, but was pretty sure that the Suzaku guy wasn't going to be competition. He was alone in the back with the equipment, Gourry having taken over driving duties with Lina up front managing the music. 

Funny, he reflected, that the Suzaku van was mostly full of Slayers, and vice-versa. Maybe that was because the two band leaders had that private car… That sounded pretty good to him, suddenly. Another car…that would make touring a lot easier. A car…

Would this damn trip ever end? He was constantly surrounded with preening pretty-boys. The only females in the group were the Slayers' girls (and the two obnoxious groupie girls the Seven fawned over inexplicably). Of course, the Seven did draw a mostly girl crowd, so that was promising. All this single-minded pursuit was really wearing him down. Had he lost his touch, maybe? The very thought was frightening! He'd have to find out...too bad the Slayers was the only team supplying the interesting female part of the contingent.

Finally, all three vehicles pulled into the lot, lit by neon lights and a few flickering street-lamps. The tired, car-sick throng delegated tasks: wake up Chichiri, talk to the hotel manager, and unload the instruments, equipment, and baggage… There was a long, long two days ahead of them.

~*~

Days Later…

The Cephied Believers Clan Settlement was abuzz in activity; summer was a big growing period for the organic farmers. Before the boys had unloaded their bags in his house, Milgasia had them out in the garden of Mrs. Saunders to help her weed and thin seedlings. Zelgadiss was patting Beast and settling him down in a shady spot when the lady of the house came out to greet them.

"Oh, I'm so glad you could come back and bring your friends to help. My daughter had to run into Atlas City to pick up Filia's cousin and this garden's just a mess. She'll be so relieved to see it all cleaned up when she returns this evening. Now Val, introduce me to these nice young men, starting with the fine tall fellow!" Mrs. Saunders smiled and used a frail hand to shade her eyes from the bright sunlight. 

"Ah, sure thing. They're all part of the band I'm in with Filia. This is Gourry, he plays bass…The other two share a house with me in town," he punched Zel in the shoulder. "This is Zel, our guitarist, and…"

"You delivered that little Ul Copt child, didn't you? Let me see those hands…Yes, such long sensitive fingers. You'd make a fine doctor someday."

Zelgadiss blushed and muttered something undecipherable, but which might have been "thanks."

Val finished the introductions, " And this is Xelloss the drummer…"

"You're the syndicate boy, aren't you?" she squinted warily at Xelloss. "You're the one Milgasia spoke so highly of?"

Xelloss rubbed the back of his head nervously and smiled, "I suppose so…"

To his surprise, Gourry stepped up and said, "He gave you folks Wolfpack Island. Nice place. We were campin' there last night."

Zelgadiss glared at Gourry. That was not to be disclosed! The gift was a secret! Before he could deny anything, the old woman was moving on, ignoring the slip-up.

"Were you? I just loved camping out-of-doors when I was a girl. Well, I'll let you boys get on with your work while I make up some iced tea."

"So, what's a weed and what's a keeper, farmer-Val?" Xelloss asked with a smile.

"You'd better water…" Val growled. He hadn't completely forgiven Xelloss for the practical joke the night before. He'd been terribly frightened, although he'd hidden the fact well, but the fact was Xelloss had out-tricked him. On the other hand, Xelloss hadn't complained when Val had yelled and punched him a few times, so they were about even. Of course, he hadn't actually been able to pin Xelloss with the 'missing underwear' crime that morning or the salt-for-sugar mix-up at breakfast or the 'rocks at the bottom of his backpack' either, but he knew…it was up to him to get even…somehow. Ah, ha… the water faucet. Now, there's a way to even the score a little…

"O-kay, do-kay!" Xelloss smiled, picking up the end of the hose and looking around vaguely for the tap.

WHOOSH! 

"Ahhhh, hah, ahh…thank you, Vally-boy," Xelloss gasped as he whipped water out of his hair. "Next time, just direct me to the faucet, okay?"

Val smirked, "Oh, sure thing!"

~*~

Luckily, baby Quinny was napping when the girl's flocked to Filia's house. Lina hadn't intended to spend her day with a noisy baby. So, instead, Filia took them on a walking tour of the beautiful natural features and the stables. 

"This palomino is mine to ride. Would you all like to go for a quick ride out to the lake and back?" Filia offered. Accepting excitedly, each of the friends was provided a ride and help saddling up.

"Do you and Val ride much?" Sylphiel asked. "You're both pretty secretive about what goes on out here." 

Blushing slightly, Filia said, "Well, there's not much to tell, but he's become a very good horseman. Lina, wouldn't you rather choose a smaller one? That's a high-spirited one that Val likes."

"Well, unless you say I can't, I wanna ride him. Come on, big fella, we'll get along just great, won't we?" Lina gave her steed a deadly glare, emasculating him instantly. "That's right, we'll do this MY way…Giddy up!"

Amelia clicked her tongue, sending her gray pony off after Lina's dust trail. "Miss Lina! Wait for me!"

Miles later and after a quick splash in the lake, the girls trotted their horses back toward Milgasia's place. "Look over there!" Amelia pointed. "Isn't that them over at that house?"

"Green and purple…who else could it be? But that's the Saunders' house. Oh, my cousin's coming today. Let's go see if that's what's going on!" Filia cried and lead the cavalry to Mrs. Saunder's back garden.

Sure enough, Cousin Julian had arrived: tall, blonde, tan, looking like he had just stepped out of the tennis pro shop, which he had. He was being introduced to Val and friends as they rode up. Val was attempting to wipe off some mud with his balled up shirt, sweat rivulets streaking his back and chest. His damp hair was held out of his face by a black sweatband, a face made fierce by the studs and piercings. He looked like a wild animal, a hot and dangerous one. Julian pulled back his hand offered in greeting, "Well, I'm sure you want to get cleaned up first…" then nodded politely to the other three dirty strangers, when the girls caught his attention.

"Now who are these charming visions…astride the steeds of the clan?" he smiled, revealing rows of perfect teeth (which Val was considering knocking out at the moment). "And you couldn't be… that sassy little Filia girl! You have grown up and up and…what a lovely surprise!"

"Oh, my…." Xelloss whispered. "This could be a problem."

"No shit," Zel hissed. "I hate the guy and I'm not crazy about Filia. If we're going to all be 'together' for dinner, this will be your chance to make Val look good and get into his good graces again."

Xelloss smiled, eyes glittering evilly, "I agree."

As they put away their tools, Gourry asked Zel in a low voice, "Was I the only one that felt like a flunkey meeting his boss just now?"

Zel shook his head, "No, and by the looks of things we may have a fight on our hands if Val loses control. Xelloss is going to see what he can do, so be prepared."

"Yeah, like a good scout, huh? Sure glad we'll be leavin' tomorrow. But I gotta say I feel for Val. That guy's a tough act to follow," Gourry stopped as Val stepped close for a drink at the hose.

Julian was much admired that evening. He was working the pro shop over the summer then returning to college where he was studying law. Perfect. He and Filia's family talked amiably about 'old times' until the baby's cry disrupted dinner, at which point the tables turned… 

"You know, Val and Zelgadiss helped with the delivery," Xelloss began. 

"Oh?" asked Julian half interested. "And…are you summer labor here too?"

"What? Me? Oh, I don't think you understand. We are Filia's friends and are in a band called the Slayers, currently on tour with the Suzaku Seven," Xelloss smiled.

"Oh…musicians, huh? I'll put in a good word for you at the Country Club, in case they're in need of a teeny-bopper band," Julian said with a bored expression.

Xelloss leaned forward and continued evenly, "Yes, we are known for lending helping hands where e'er we're needed. And that club where you work? Gourry and his father's company built it and Val here owns it, well most of it, I may be a part owner as well," Xelloss smiled.

"That's funny!" Julian smirked. "I know for a fact then that the syndicate once owned it and it's in litigation to be sold soon to this clan!" 

"Let me update you then! I withdrew my agreement last week and offered my portion to Val here, instead. As of yesterday or today or tomorrow…I haven't been in touch…busy with good-deed-doing and all…the club should be all Val's." Xelloss smiled as he gestured to Val seated to his right. 

"I don't believe you! No syndicate members would ever be allowed in this settlement! And, that guy," pointing to Val, "…lives with Milgasia! Besides, you're too young and…what kind of a fool do you take me for?" Julian sputtered.

"Take? I take nothing I don't want. So… I give up! What kind of fool are you?" Xelloss leaned back in his chair and smiled goofily.

Meanwhile, the Ul Copts returned to the table with the baby, "Meet little Quentin Shadowrun!"

Val stood and met the baby's outstretched hands with a finger to grab onto. Clearly, his was a familiar and welcome face.

Xelloss used the interruption as an excuse to leave the table. Speaking quietly into the mouthpiece of his cellphone, he settled some unknown business, then quickly hung up and rejoined the others at the table, "Ah, Quinny's here, how nice. Oh, and congratulations, Val. It's all yours!"

Up to that point his friends figured it was all a bluff, but Xelloss was serious. However it had been managed, he had somehow transferred ownership of the Seyruun Country Club to Val Gaav, punk supreme.

Julian stared in disbelief at the other kids. He barely overheard (and decided that he'd simply miss-heard) Val rumbling under his breath, "What the hell do I wanna crappy country club for? What I really wanna get my hands on is a good car!" 

None of the kids seemed at all surprised or disturbed by the change of events. Only one of them, Gourry (He BUILT the place?) was thoughtfully congratulating Val on his new acquisition. Even Filia's parents seemed unfazed, so absorbed were they in their entertaining little boy, who was now being held by the creepy-looking guy with the pointy ears and scarred face. Gods what a freak show! Now that girl is STILL cramming food into her mouth and stabbing that poor Gourry guy with a fork to get at his plate! Oh, and now that little girl is joining in! These aren't people, they're animals, mad animals!

Julian shook his head. 'No. These people are not real. When I look up, they will all be normal…' However, when he looked up, Xelloss was looking back, eyes fully open. He shivered with chills running down his spine. Cephied help us, he's holding the baby now! 

"Hmmm, he still has that truly wonderful smell, Mrs. Ul Copt," Xelloss was telling her. 

"Julian, is something wrong?" Filia asked. "Don't you want to hold Quinny?"

"No thank you! I'm going back to mother's now…" Julian muttered, excusing himself with a grunt and making a run for the door.

"Yeah, well mebbe he'll wanna go ridin' or somethun…" Val smirked. "…some other day, Filia. Probably more his style."

"My, that was sudden," remarked Filia's mother. "And he used to be so polite. Well, that's how kids are. Some improve with time and others…don't." She smiled kindly at the kids at her table, who were laughing and playing pass-the-baby and filling the normally quiet house with their special music.

~*~

Wowoooowowowooooar! The big dog howled when Zel flung open the front door to his house.

"Gods, it's good to be home!" moaned Zel as he fell onto the floor of the front room not even bothering to land on the couch.

"No kidding…" Val groaned as he stretched out his lanky arms and legs and collapsed on the said couch.

"There's no place like hoooooooooooome!" Xelloss chortled, jumped over the dog and Zel, then landed in a chair. "Good thing we're not back on the road until tomorrow, eh? I have got to take a shower and do some laundry. Ah, the life of successful musicians is soooo glamorous."

Rezo appeared at the head of the stairs and called, "Zelgadiss, Xelloss? Val, too? Boys, are you home now? You had better blessed be or I'm calling the police on you!" He made his way down the stairs and into the front room. "What's this on the floor?" he asked giving Zel a light kick in the ribs.

"Me! Careful with the carcass! It's got to do stuff and go on the road for two more days starting tomorrow. Oh, it needs a vacation," Zel moaned, but didn't move.

"IT just had two nice days vacationing on a private island and then out into the fresh country air!" Xelloss smiled.

"Oh, sure hiking ten miles and hoeing acres of turnips. Nice time…" Zel continued to gripe.

"More like five miles, and I was carrry'n ten pounds of rocks thanks to funny-guy, here! And the garden was less than a quarter acre. You shoulda been digin' holes and movin' trees like I was!" Val grumbled unsympathetically.

Rezo cleared his throat to speak and removed Val's feet from his chair in order to have a place to sit, "I thought your band was playing at the beach. Sounds like the clan put you all to work. They did? Good for them! By the way, Joey's been here every day watering. Strangest thing. You'd told me to expect him, but one morning I heard him practicing drums in your place, Xelloss."

"Oh? Good, I gave him the keys so he could. I think I'll give him my set and order another from Val. Hey, Val? Can you do that for me?"

"Drums? I dunno, I haven't been at the music store in so long they probably changed the locks on me. Shit, I outta call them today, too…What do you want? The best as usual? I'll go down there and…no, you and I will DRIVE down there and look through some catalogues. Damn! What's with my inheritance, huh? Now I've got some F*&#^%ing country club but no money to buy food? How come you got money to rent helicopters and put in gardens and I don't?" Val ranted, eyes closed, body immobile.

"Because my money is with…was with the syndicate, while yours was with the clan. I don't think the clan is eager to shower you with wealth. The Gaav fund for step-sons ought to be ready by now. Here, give Fribrizzo a call…ah, punch 12," Xelloss recommended as he tossed his cellphone at Val.

Val caught it before it brained him, eyed closed, and made the call, "Yeah, Val Gaav here. Is Mr. Fribrizzo a-vail-a-ble to speak to me? Yeah, sure, but I won't hold fer long!"

"Well," Rezo began with a sigh. "I was hoping for some help moving tomorrow…"

"Yeah, I'm here…where else would I be? I called YOU! Yeah, well, I've been in-formed in-for-mal-ly that I own some country club now. Yeah. Right. I wanna car, understand! Where's my money? What's goin' on? What kind of car? Oh, ah, it's gotta carry stuff. I'm goin' to the Ancient's settlement and it's gotta go over bad roads…all ter-rain ve-hicle…or Suburban? Four-wheel drive? V-8? Needs a top-of-the-line sound system…got that? How much? Gasp! So how do I do this? Oh… sure, that'll do, ah, thanks. Bye."

"He's having it delivered in a couple hours…He's sending my own car over… I'M GONNA HAVE MY OWN CAR AND IT'S ON ITS WAY! Oh, he wants to meet with us and give us a fi-nan-sheel update after we get back from Atlas City," Val pointed to Zel. "Put that on your calendar."

"YOU put that on the calendar. I'm not moving. I'm not showering either. I'm going to remain here on the floor for the rest of my futile existence. OOF! Aww…no not Beast! Get off of me! I'm not your pillow! Move your head…Yuck! He's drooling on my back isn't he?"

"If it means you'll be taking a shower, then yes," Xelloss smiled. "You smell like that dog and I for one am not sharing a room with a dog-boy."

"Sharing…oh, yes…I wonder what the accommodations will be this time? Don't we have enough money to afford separate beds at least? It's not fair! Just because I'm…not a moose," Zel began.

"Small, Zel-bob, yer small. Gourry is big. I am big. Most of the Suzaku Seven are big- Hotohori, Tamahome, Mitsukage. Xelloss is small. Chiriko is too. Chichiri is medium enough and so is Nuriko. Tasuki, too. So, if ya gotta share a bed, ya pair up a small with a big or two mediums, got it? Ya wanna trade?" Val asked.

"No, you're okay. It's just… oh well. I don't care anymore, as long as it's quiet. And it's not that preening high-and-mighty 'Emperor'," Zel groaned as Beast used his back to push himself to a standing position. "I hope you are a smart enough pooch to feed yourself now because I am not moving, even to feed you. I'm not feeding myself, either."

"If you can wait a couple days, we'll be back and be able to move you then," Xelloss said to Rezo.

"Thank you, Xelloss, for listening. Who would have guessed that you would turn out to be my good son? Yes, I'll wait then, and feed the poor dog now, too!" Rezo said as he rose and stepped over his less-than-perfect-son on the floor.

"'Emperor'…Ya mean Hotohori? Yeah, he's full of himself fer sure. So's that Tamahome guy too. Tasuki's a friend and Chichiri's cool…reminds me of a cross between you two guys sometimes when he talks."

"HUH?" both Zel and Xelloss said together.

"He's smart and's got some dark past, the scarred face, wears funny clothes…kinda a fruit like…ah, ferget it," Val muttered. "Not worth arguing with ya about it…" He continued to mumble then threw a pillow at Zel's head.

"Well, he thrashes around in bed," Xelloss sighed. "If I had a choice, Nuriko's quieter. He sleeps like a log and doesn't snore like Gourry! Don't look at me that way!"

"Look? My face is buried in a pillow; a pillow that some thoughtful person sent my way. I can't bother to raise my head to look at you! I don't care who you get stuck with, as long as it's not me. Now, Val here's remarkably quiet and undisturbing," Zel waved a hand abstractly. "…if you need a recommendation."

"'Undisturbing'? That's not a word is it?" Val asked.

"It is now. Doesn't it bother you that that guy dresses like a girl sometimes, Xelloss?" Zel asked distractedly.

"No. I've known him for years and we…WERE teamed in karate together for much of that time. He never let it bother him that I was returning to an insane asylum each day so I didn't let his affectations bother me. He never considered me 'fair game', if that's what you were getting at. I could use something to eat. Zel-gaaaaaaa-diss! Will you make me a sandwich? Soup maybe? Oh, you're no good are you?" Xelloss patted his head like he might a dog. "Bad boy!"

"Go fix it yourself. I'm busy. Resting. My fingers ache. Do you realize that I might never play guitar again? I could be ruined!" Zel moaned into the pillow.

Snort! "I think I shall go and make myself some dinner," Rezo announced. He knew that would get a rise out of his prone son. Zel hated the mess he left, and would rather do all the cooking, than clean up his mess.

"Hey, how about we go visit that hot tub?" Val asked.

"Good idea!"

"I won't let you in unless you shower first!" Xelloss said. "The dog hair alone would clog the filter."

"All right. If you give me a hand, I'll get up, fix us all something to eat, and then shower, all right?"

"Okay, dokay, little brother!" Xelloss grinned and skipped to the front door. On the way he passed the stack of mail, which he shuffled through until he found one letter addressed to him. "What's this?" he asked himself. No return address alerted him to check the signature first for a seal…none. He sighed in relief, 'not the syndicate', then read the short note.

Zel froze halfway to the kitchen and Val poised at the entrance to the hallway to his room. 

"Problemo?" Val asked.

"I'm not sure. Go on and shower…cook. We'll talk about it in the hot tub," Xelloss said sounding casual and pocketing the letter.

After a quick meal and showers, the boys regrouped on deck around the hot tub.

"It's the strangest message sending condolences for my mother's death in one line, then pointing out the difficulties in finding someone to fill her shoes at her job. I can't tell whether this is from some obscure syndicate member, relative, or school chum." Xelloss flipped on the jets, hung up his kimono, and popped into the simmering pool.

"Well, you were expectin' the syndicate might come sniffin' around sometime," Val said as he dropped his towel and stepped gingerly over the edge into the warm water.

"And her relatives from…where WAS she from, anyway?" Zel asked, last to disrobe and hastily climb into the pitch-dark pool.

"Syndicate Europe, I guess. I never knew," Xelloss sighed as he let the hot water penetrate his tight muscles.

"Check the postage. Is it local?" Val asked again.

"Yes. Oddly, it is. Maybe it's from some high school contact," Xelloss said as he squinted in the candle light at the envelope.

"Maybe, but I asked 'cause at home, Gaav of lots of mail postmarked as local, but had really gone through some criminal central sorter, been re-packaged and stamped to hide the place of or-i-gin. The addresses were always printed by computer like junk mail," Val said closing his eyes and sinking deeply into the foaming water.

"Great. Just when I thought my life was coming together someone comes along and pulls it apart again!" Xelloss said angrily.

"Relax. We know nothing, just suspect, and we may be wrong. We've been living with one foot on the dark side for so long, we're getting all worked up over what could be an innocent note from the local librarian," Zel said.

"I know the librarian and she's a very nice lady who didn't write this mockery of a sympathy letter!" Xelloss sighed, relaxing once again into the bubbles. "Ah, well…this water feels so good…I am basically just a hedonist going for what makes me feel good… anymore, so I shall now forget… Help me Mr. Spock! Do that Vulcan 'forget' memory-wipe thingy!" he begged Zelgadiss.

"Oh, shuddup and let me be … oh, all right. Foooor-get…foooorget!" Zel waved a hand majestically over-head, sending Xelloss into a giggling fit.

Val mumbled, "I'M tryin' you can bet…" then whispered in a low voice barely discernable above the volume of the jets he added, "But just because I can't ferget nothin' …I think that none of us should be alone at any time until we know what's up… You agree? You listenin' ta me? Just nod stupidly then..."

Ring, ring, ring, ring 

"Whose cell phone is that?" they all asked.

Xelloss stretched to reach the noisy gizmo, "Hello, this is Xelloss, who may be the person of interest, or not. WHOM would you like to speak to?"

"Ah…hi… I thought I was dialing Zel."

"Oh, Master Gourry! You may be right but I can't see color in the dark so I have no idea whose phone this is, but… I'll get him for you! Here, Zel-GA-diss, call for you."

"Thanks. Hi…what's up? Jillas? Not that I've noticed. Want to talk to Val? Already tried? Well, he's here and his phone isn't. Hold on…Here, talk to him…your turn," Zel said passing the phone to the next sodden guy.

"'Lo? Who? Hangin' round? No, but I'll look into it. Yeah, sorry 'bout that. Wanna soak in da hot tub? I ain't goin' nowhere. Come 'round back. Nah, ya don't need ta bring nothin'—no chicks!"

~*~

The Atlas City trip would prove to be an interesting one. Val's vehicle was a welcome addition for starters. It rode more comfortably than either van and was clean. He insisted that both guitars be stored between cushioning layers of clothes in back and hoped Filia would want to join him without his having to ask. However, a new idea had been presented.

"Since we're going to either fight over seats or drown in apathy--" Lina began.

"—We're going to draw names out of a HAT?" the annoying Miaka cried.

"Sure," her more sullen friend silenced her. "That way we'll all have an equal chance of sitting next to who we want."

"But," Miaka protested, "but what if we don't get to sit next to anyone we LIKE?"

A wave of disgust issued from the Slayers and most of the Seven, as well. 

"Then we get to know each other better!" Amelia perked up.

"I already got to know everyone a lot better than I wanted to," Zel shuddered.

"I hear ya," Tasuki shook his head.

"Hopefully," Hotohori yawned, "last time's unfortunate cost-cutting will not be repeated."

"YOU didn't have to sleep with the kid!" Tamahome flipped his short dark hair in the direction of Chiriko, who rolled his eyes.

"Why don't we all stop fighting and draw lots? Lina already made them out, no da," Chichiri diffused the situation.

"Wait! I'm gonna drive MY car, and nobody's gonna stop me!" Val growled.

"Already compensated for that," Lina waved his off. "And Amelia's in her van, and Hotohori's the leader of his van, too. And if we end up with nobody who can drive in Amelia's, we'll re-draw a bit…"

And so they drew lots, climbed aboard and drove off to Atlas City.

Ring, ri…

"Hello? Xelloss? Why are you calling me? And speak up, I can hardly hear you," Zel asked from his seat in Amelia's van. 

"I'll try but I don't want THEM to overhear me talking about them," Xelloss said in a low voice. "Everyone here is… this is the BITCH car, I SWEAR! The attitude is sucking my sense of humor dry, DRY, I SAY!"

"That's too bad. I SAID TOO BAD! I'm in the cheery car. No, make that the squeaky car. They keep singing campfire buddy songs and passing snacks. Nuriko's driving but at the next rest stop I'm going to since I'm not 'joining in with the fun!'" He said the last part in a rude imitation of Amelia.

"I should be there, shouldn't I?" Xelloss giggled. "So Lina's in the SS van, huh?" Xelloss asked.

"Yeah, oh damn, that Miaka's so happy…Amelia improves by the minute. Luckily I don't have to actually converse with any of them; Chichiri and Nuriko keep Miaka busy and that little twerp Chiriko is always glomming onto Amelia…" Zel paused to listen to Xelloss.

"You sound a bit jealous. AH! I gotta go. That Yui bitch is taunting Tamahome into a fight with me. I mean, he's Kung Fu and I'm Karate, but he knows I could take him in a minute…or could a couple months ago…"

"Fine. I'll call Lina and see how's she's doing…lucky stiff…" He did.

"Who—Zel! What's wrong?"

"Ah, nothing…I just wanted to see how things were going with you…"

"Get a life Zel."

"No, damn you! You don't understand! I'm stuck in this car full of mindlessly cheerful little bimbos—"

CLICK Lina hung up on him.

Zel sighed. "I wonder why SHE'S not in the bitch car…" Immediately, the cell phone vibrated with an incoming call. Zel wondered what inspired that change of heart.

"Yo, Zel!"

"Tasuki?"

"Yeah, I stole the phone from Lina. How you holdin' up with all the gigglers?"

"I'm contemplating suicide," Zel said. "This is the Squeaky Car. Xelloss is in the Bitch Car. How about you?" 

"Dude, this is the Hair Car!" Tasuki choked. "There's all this long, Technicolor hair blowin' in the wind back at me—I'm, like, DROWNING in hair! Hotohori and that Sylph-chick, then Gourry and Lina, all in front of me! Me and Mitsukage are the only ones who can't sit on our hair!"

Zel smirked. "Would you like to trade?"

"You kiddin'? I can hear the squeals from here!" Tasuki laughed.

"Really? I can't. I use earplugs these days, after the whole deafness thing…"

"Good thinking'. Okay, Lina's giving me a dirty look, and I still value my life, so…"

"Yeah. Talk to you later."

CLICK

And so Zel was socially deprived for a few hours, at least he had hoped so when Miaka's voice rose over the road din.

"So where did you guys have that accident that you all got hurt in?" she blurted out.

"Accident?" Amelia looked confused.

"Miaka!" Chichiri choked out. "That's too terrible a thing to bring up now! I'm sure they don't want to talk about it either. I wouldn't, no da!!"

"Ah, thank you Mr. Chichiri. It's not something we really CAN talk about yet…if ever," Amelia said quietly. "It's okay Miaka, I'm not mad, just..let's change the subject, okay?"

"Oh, sure. I'll tell you about the absolute best restaurant to eat at in Atlas City. It had an all-you-can-eat buffet!"

"Oh, really!" Amelia squealed.

"Oh, joy…" Zel thought and pushed in his earplugs a little further.

Xelloss had problems of his own…

"So, Tamahome, what do think of you and me singing together?" Filia asked. She was in the passenger seat beside Val and had turned around to speak to the handsome young man seated behind her. She had been doing so for some time now, and Val was decidedly churlish.

"We gotta'nuff songs together. We don't need no more," Val growled.

"That's right!" Yui agreed, surprisingly. She had been sneering at Xelloss as if she was afraid he might pose some kind of threat to 'her' Tamahome. "The Suzaku Seven don't need you guys along anyways."

"Now Yui," Tamahome began weakly. "We do need the Slayers. They are a very popular band and we can't do it all alone any more. If we could, we would 'cause the more money we get by ourselves the more I get ta keep. That's why I'm in on this! Hotohori has his own money and reasons. How about you, Xelloss? Why are you in a band?"

"Me? Well, I'd like to think it's because I'm a good drummer. Zelgadiss, Val and Gourry needed one and I had a place to practice as well. Lina…" Xelloss started to relax.

"Zelgadiss, Val…you sure got some weird lookin' guys in your band. That tall blonde one's okay, but the rest…sorry, but it's the truth ya know," Yui said.

"Weird?" Filia echoed from the front. "Nuriko and Chichiri aren't odd to you? I mean, at least our guys all dress like guys! And Zel is nice looking. It's not his fault he's got some scars!"

"Scars? Chichiri's got scars. That guy Zeldigas looks like an alien and he's…" Yui was cut off by Xelloss.

"ZelGADISS is my brother and best friend, so please, until you know him, don't diss him, okay?" he smiled and opened his eyes slowly, looking quite evil indeed.

"Oh! Tamahome! This guy's scaring me! Make him stop!"

For Val's sake—the driver--Xelloss closed his eyes and mouth, folded his arms and pretended to go to sleep.

"So are we close to THAT PLACE?" Yui asked the silent Xelloss.

"Pardon?"

"Where your band had that awful accident a few months ago?"

Xelloss blinked. Oh…right…THAT story. "I, um… don't recall…"

"Yui!" Tamahome chastised her gently. "He was nearly killed and his mother was…killed in that accident. I don't think he wants to be reminded!"

"OH…yeah…too bad about that…" she said glumly.

Xelloss simply smiled weakly and closed his eyes, glad to have an excuse to tune out for the remainder of the drive.

After trying to engage Hotohori in conversation, Lina dismissed him as an arrogant, pretty-boy that she could control if need be, and so, limited herself to the back of the car. Gourry would listen and smile and nod at the right times, while Tasuki was loud and coarse-- a lot like Val. Mitsukage sat beside him in quiet conversation at times, but mostly he read from a pile of text books on his lap. 

Sylphiel was enjoying Hotohori's company well enough in the passenger seat. "I just get goosebumps every time I hear you sing," she told him.

"Ah, thank you. Your voice is very sweet, also."

"Really? Coming from some one like you makes it soooooo meaningful," she gushed. "I'm sure you have loads of fans!"

"Yes, I have, but I'm sure a beautiful girl like you has plenty of boyfriends?"

"Who me?" Sylphiel nearly went super-nova she glowed so brightly. "I haven't even got ONE! You see, my father is the head of the Seyruun White Shrine and so it's difficult for someone to get past his…"

"Scrutiny? He's a tough judge of character then? Well, when you're older, I'm sure you'll have more freedom," Hotohori said in a way that managed to make her feel about twelve years old to his twenty.

"Yeah, well hearin' wolves in the night alone on a campin' trip woulda scared the shit outta me too!" Tasuki laughed when Lina had shared the birthday surprise party story. "So Xelloss and Val are into practical jokes are they?"

Gourry chuckled, "Well Val's Idea of a joke was even worse…" and before Lina could mash in his face to silence him, Gourry had briefly explained the practical joke that had caught Lina by surprise.

"Haaaaaaaa!" Tasuki roared. "That's gotta be a hell of a place for a serious guy like Zel to live!"

"He seems to like it okay. Without them, he'd be alone. He talks more now and smiles some," Gourry smiled a bit.

"What do you mean? Zel needs those guys so he has a life! He's as different as night and day from when you met him last year. Without them, it would all be on MY shoulders! It's called shouldering the load…" Lina explained.

Opening a box of cookies, Sylphiel offered one to Hotohori. Lina's attention was immediately diverted to the front of the van, "Cookies? Yeah, pass 'em back here! Are those your special recipe ones? Hey, better be appreciative here, Sylphie is our resident cookie specialist. Someday she'll be world famous for these!"

Sylphiel blushed with pride. She'd never heard Lina praise anyone so much, especially not herself.

"Hmmm," Hotohori smiled. "You're right. These are good. How lucky I am to have you right up front where I get first choice."

Poor Sylphiel sighed with happiness, while everyone else nibbled, chomped, and crunched. She considered it more than fair…yes, definitely MORE than fair.

"Hey, by the way…have we come to the place your van had that terrible accident?" Hotohori asked in a low voice.

"HUH?" Sylphiel responded blankly. They hadn't prepared for that question to be asked and she wasn't quick at witty rejoinders.

"Don't remind them!" Tasuki snarled from the back. "Everyone was havin' a good time and that might jinx our trip!"

Gourry placed a hand on the wild red-head's arm, "S'okay. Lina doesn't remember any accident at all. Me neither…"

~*~ 

Later that evening…

"So tell me, Amelia, how do you guys all pair up? I've never really been able to tell, I mean Gourry…who WOULDN'T go for a hunk like him, and so nice, too! Val scares me to death, but he's really hot. Xelloss is… really odd and Zelgadiss… kinda freaky looking for my tastes," Miaka shared while Amelia et al were changing into their stage costumes.

"Miaka, we don't really pair up, not THAT way, exactly. It's really too complicated to go into right now. You see, we're all friends and some would like to take it one step further and others…would rather not, so we continue as a group thing. I gotta go see if anyone else needs help, but…how do I look? New tops for the singers!" Amelia cried out as she did a quick spin around.

"Oh, you look so cute! I just love that salmon color!" Miaka giggled.

"Thanks! I do too! The guys are in greens and the girls in these peachy tones for the summer, anyway. See ya later!" Amelia smiled and waved then checked with Lina for any last minutes changes or assignments.

Val and Xelloss were making last minute adjustments to the drum kit. One of the wingnuts was missing and the duct tape substitute wasn't strong enough to hold the drum in place.

"We'll have to switch with a lesser-used drum, then, and deal with it for tonight. I'll take ya out tomorrow to look for parts," Val explained to his perturbed friend. "Hey, lighten up! I'm tryin' ta help here!"

"Sorry…I guess a day in the Bitch Car has soured my mood and at first I thought this was another of your jokes," Xelloss said moodily.

"Dude, we agreed, no jokin' at paid gigs. I would not screw up a job, man!" Val said indignantly. "Bitch Car, eh? It wasn't my favorite group of per-son-al-itees either, ya know!"

"Yeah, well to shut up that…young lady with the attitude, I had to agree to doing a demo with Tamahome comparing our two different styles of combat," Xelloss said as he held the last drum in place while Val adjusted the tape in place.

"When's that?"

"I don't know. Tomorrow after the last show, I guess. Maybe she'll have forgotten by then, you think?" Xelloss smiled.

"Forgotten? Not that one! It's probably the only thing she's got ta look forward to. I think she likes ya! There, how's that? Cool. Zel's ready for the sound test…" Val slapped his friend on the back, chuckling at the face Xelloss was making, and took up his station at the keyboards.

"Ready!" Val shouted.

Gourry struck a cord and began the bass rhythm. Val joined in then Xelloss. Nuriko and Tasuki joined Zel and the club's technician to watch how they checked levels and balanced the sound.

"Got that? My range should stay between these two numbers or I'll drown out the singers, all right? Then I'll go back to the stage and we'll run through our first number. If that's fine, then we'll do a test on my acoustic guitar and Val and Filia's duet, those will have the most dramatic differences. Most of the other solos range somewhere between. Yeah, I'll go join the others now," Zel instructed the technician and sped back up to the stage.

Half an hour later, he had the settings for both bands. They cleared the hall and the audience filed in.

"Looks like a sell-out," Tamahome was telling Lina. "If we continue to do this well, I'll be able to finish college and have plenty of money to send back home. I got bunches of siblings I help."

"Yeah, Gourry does, too…Say, you got enough CD's to sell there?" Lina asked.

"No, actually we'll be picking up a couple boxes at the studios when you go over tomorrow. Think you might wanna do your own?" he asked her.

"Yeah, but we only have time for a test tomorrow morning before our gig, then a quick run through before we leave. Something to take home and listen to and see how bad we are before spending hours and blowin' big bucks making an even worse CD," she grinned.

"You're right about that actually. These days the equipment is so good that they can record every mistake made, build on it, and reproduce it with all its glaring clarity. That's when the separation and re-dos come in and…"

"And the time and extra bucks. I get it. I don't know if I have the patience for it, but Zel does in spades! Anyway, I'm sellin' T-shirts and I'm hopin' for a good turnout too!" Lina smiled. "Well, it's Showtime for me!" she dashed off, energy rising for her explosion on stage in five, four, three, two,…

"HEY EVERYBODY! READY FOR A GOOD TIME? YEAH? WELL… We're the Slayers, and we're going to start you off with a Lina Inverse original! Hit it!

'I want to become a bird and soar away high into the skies

With hope my goal as it lies so far away.

If I am able to face what I see before me right now,

I won't have to fear being hurt or what tomorrow with bring!'

Her voice rose and met at last with the others in their rendition of 'Breeze'* for the first number:

'…I want to fly away high atop this BREEZE

Towards the oceans of my dreams

On these wings called courage.

To be a bird and hang on to what I feel when I look down.

Let's not be beaten by the reality of passing days!'"

*(Slayers Try opening theme, not our words!)

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Two. ~*~


	3. Chapter 3

The Slayers: Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel

.

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Three

July

Nels Lahda met the stranger in his office at the Shrine, "I'm sorry, Mr. Almayce, but the Red Priest relics are not for sale at ANY price. I'm sure that you know that his staff and mantle are priceless artifacts to the Seyruun White Shrine and that we could not part with them."

Tall and mysterious, when Mr. Almayce stood, an ominous feeling swept over the high priest of Seyruun's largest shrine. His hollow voice echoed in the plainly decorated room when he spoke, "I will be back, Priest of Seyruun. Think it over. I will have the staff. Either you get paid or not, that is up to you. Good day…and I can find my own way out, thank you."

Watching the stranger disappear into an unmarked limousine, the priest shook off his cold fear with a whisper to his higher creator, "Oh… that was no White Shrine priest that I just met. The syndicate more likely has returned… I'm glad the kids are out of town for a few days. It will give me time to think…Please give me strength and help me now…"

~*~

Max Sterling was the head technician at the Macross Recording Studios of Atlas City. Tall as Val, with a tousled mop of blue-black hair, the twenty-something man met the Slayers with a friendly smile and handshake. They took him up on his offer of sodas and then he gave them a quick tour of the facility that they would be using that day.

"What I hope to achieve is a simple recording of your music straight out, one track, for you to take home and listen to. Now, it won't sound good. To sound professional will take hours and multiple tracks. It works like this…" Max said in his deep seductive voice.

He continued to explain how each instrumental part would be laid down separately then re-mixed to form a new single recording. "It has to be perfect, you see, because unlike a live performance, any mistakes will get heard over and over for all time, or until the CD's wear out…ha, ha…" he chuckled.

Lina made a face. This was getting boring. On with the recording!

"This way you will get a flavor for our process in a limited amount of time, but I remind you…don't let the recording put you off about coming back. We promise to make you sound as good…as you think you should! Now, our studio band has all their equipment set up already. For times sake, you may use their things for this recording—I imagine it's better than you can afford anyway, huh?"

Zelgadiss clamped his hand over Xelloss' mouth as he was about to tell the arrogant man that their equipment was in every way as good as any studio…

"OH MY…" Xelloss said breathlessly.

The most gorgeous drum kit on earth stood before him, awaiting his touch to make them come alive. Two sets actually. What to choose, what to choose…

"Ah, thank you for lending these to us. I understand the time limits, otherwise we should prefer to play our own (inferior crap) familiar instruments," Zelgadiss said politely, since the others seemed to have become inarticulate. 

Val was practically—no, ACTUALLY drooling over a synthesizer/keyboard so complex he couldn't find the on-off switch until a kid sweeping up cigarette butts pointed it out to him. "Oh…er... sure…thanks dude…"

Picking up the multi-thousand dollar bass guitar, Gourry's hand shook, "Man, I hope I don't scratch this…or drop it…"

After Val had a chance to run though the basics and make sounds come out that he was expecting, he gave Lina a thumbs up sign to begin. Lina chose to sing 'Give a Reason' as their first number.

"First, we have time for the instrumentals to have a run through so the guys to become familiar with their instruments and for me to make a few adjustments to the sound levels, okay?" Max asked, then left the room to reappear moments later in an adjacent room filled with wires and mixing boards. 

He must have flipped a switch inside, because his voice suddenly boomed overhead mid sentence, "…anytime you're ready then, go ahead!"

Gourry began, laying down his bass line, followed shortly by Zel and Xelloss, with Val jumping in a few measures later mumbling under his breath, "Zel and I should be starting this number but these switches…"

Max strode out from the control room to Val. "Let's try that one more time…" Max advised. He flipped a couple switches on the keyboard and said, "See if that's more like it. Pardon if I was staring, but my wife, Milia, has green hair the color of yours and I believe she's as tall as you too."

"Natural green?" Val asked, wondering, hoping on the off-chance that he may have discovered another survivor of the Ancient Clan.

"Oh, no… I don't think there's anything natural about her… not that I mind, mind you," Max chuckled and returned to the control room.

The next test went more smoothly, and so Max suggested that they go for the vocals.

" Sure thing," Lina nodded. "One and a two and a…

'The dizzying clusters of time run through a savannah town.

Alternatively, the surrealism of this news 

Is forgotten by everyone once tomorrow comes.

I am alive… right now, I am alive, 

And somewhere within all this, I am searching for something…

As if it were struggling, as if it were sneaking away,

I want to test this power!

…

I'm, not afraid of getting hurt,

But it's hard for me to change things.

I just don't want to regret standing by and not doing anything.

Here we go! Go! I'll keep running on…

No one will be able to stop me!

I want to get through to my future self and 

GIVE HER A REASON FOR LIVING!'

"Whew! I guess I've sung that song enough in the past week, huh?" Lina laughed and collapsed on a chair.

"Well, kids, that sounded just fine for a first run here. For the real thing I'd suggest replacing the drummer and using our pro…he's been doing this for a long time…" Max continued droning on about the recording business, but Xelloss felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. Replace him? On the CD? Was he THAT bad a drummer?

Lina interrupted his moment of insecurity with a playful punch to the shoulder, "Don't worry, didn't they say the same thing to the Beatles about Ringo? Yeah, the album-makers suggested replacing him, too, and you know it was a classic style he started, so smile and forget it. We Slayers are about sticking together!"

"Like fly-paper!" Val added.

"Like bee-puke!" Lina corrected.

"Okay, no replacements!" Max laughed holding up his hands as a sign of capitulation. "But if he sings a lead, I might insist on it. Now, we got time for a couple more. How about a slower-paced one?"

Val and Filia agreed to perform their duet, "Somewhere," although, again Val requested an instrumental-only run-through to accustom himself to the complicated keyboards. He wanted a simple piano sound, but had twenty or so to choose from. Gourry and Zel listened and helped him make a choice, then one time through, and he was ready to add the vocals.

Filia began, "Somewhere in the world

Somewhere in the dark…

I can hear the voice that calls my name.

Might be a memory. 

Might be my future.

Might be a love waiting for me…

… 

Let me hear your voice

Let me be with you…

When the shadow falls down upon me.

Like a bird singing.

Like a breeze blowing.

It's calling me from somewhere in the world…"

"Terrific, kids! That will do nicely in the ballad department. We have time for another rocker…" Max looked to Lina for a suggestion.

"Val? You up for 'Fair Wind'? No?" Lina narrowed her eyes at Val who was weaseling out of anymore hard work.

"Ah, Lina? I'll do 'Set Me Free'," Gourry suggested.

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead, but Val? Be there to back him up on vocals, okay? Don't just phase out and let Zel and Xelloss cover for you either. Got that? All right then…carry on!"

Gourry nodded and let Zel fiddle with some effects pedals for his extensive guitar solo. "I guess these will do. They probably will DO more than I have the skill to learn right now, but since we're running out of time…Oh, I can run a couple tests? Good. All right then…"

Xelloss took off and roamed the mixer room examining the equipment and making mental notes to himself. Max caught up to him and offered his expertise in explaining each device. 

"Hey, you catch on pretty quick," Max said.

"You mean for a drummer?" Xelloss asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess so, but you're more on the ball than most musicians, all of you. Sorry, 'bout what I said…about replacing you. You're just fine…"

"For a kid in a garage band?" Xelloss smiled. 

"I was going to say, for a band on the road doing concerts and trying to record at the same time. Must be tiring," Max shook his head.

"Things have been worse…" Xelloss replied.

"Zel's ready to roll! Let's nail this one and go home!" Lina ordered everyone back to their stations. Like a tyrant, Lina knew what the others needed and that was structuring—her's, of course.

Gourry nodded to Xelloss as he took his place behind the drums and picked up the drumsticks. Xelloss began the drum lead in, then Zel a guitar rhythm switching to lead as Val took up the driving riffs. Gourry's bass followed Zel's guitar to complete the instrumental introduction. Gourry shouted out/sang his song:

'It's freakish, YEAH, she's always in the storm. 

Again today the crazy angel is with a penetrating dry noise

Last night's dream is long forgotten

A blizzard of boredom, passion is fighting this furious wind.

A distorted heart is warmed by a wounded angel.

The last resort is an SOS!

An endless CRY MAYBE a counter attack

A never return SHOUT BABY flouting!'

…

Zel worked himself into a frenzy churning out riff after riff in a half-crazed guitar solo interlude, dramatically shifting by to the vocals:

'KEEP ON shining HOLD ON and catch the glow, 

An endless game with no lies.

KEEP ON your future HOLD ON look forward!

Believe that you move into tomorrow 

SET ME FREE! '

Val, Gourry and Zel flew into an inspired instrumental ending that nearly blew the recording equipment apart! YEAH!

Half an hour later, the Slayers met up with the Suzaku Seven, both bands carrying new CDs. And although the Seven were carrying theirs by the box full to be sold at upcoming concerts, while the Slayers had one rough-cut copy apiece, both considered their haul to be a success.

"Do you realize," Lina mused to Gourry and Zel, who happened to be close enough to hear her, "that just about all of our songs mention the wind or a breeze? What do you suppose that says about me, since I wrote them?"

"That you're full of hot air?" Zel offered. 

"Ya also sing about makin' your own future happen and bein' in control of it," Gourry added in a rush. "That's you, Lina."

"Thanks Gourry," she smiled. "You are right, of course!"

~*~

"Mayor? Nels Lahda here…Yes, I'm fine, but I've just had a disturbing caller. Someone wants to buy the Red Priest relics, the staff in particular. Shrine, clan, cultist—maybe, but his accent sounded continental."

"You don't think the syndicate is on the move so soon after losing so many of their ranking officials, do you?" Mayor Philonel, the High Priest's friend and colleague at times suggested.

Sighing, the priest confessed, "I don't know, but that was the feeling I got from the man. Secretive and with a great undercurrent of power just beneath the surface. I'm just glad the kids missed him."

"You mean Xelloss, don't you? I suppose they won't leave the poor kid alone for long before the recruiters start knocking at his door…which also presents an opening to Zelgadiss and that Val boy. Damn! They just got back on their feet and got their lives on track! At least Rezo's still there to keep an eye on them…" the mayor shouted into the phone.

"Not for much longer," Nels Lahda informed his friend. "I just spoke to him earlier and he's moving out…back into his old place. He has a house-keeper and all…I think he plans to move this week, when the boys return to give him a hand."

"Oh. Well, we need a contingency plan—places for them to go to get to safety when they're not on the road. Now, Val, he can stay out at the settlement and drive in. Yeah, he got himself a nice car, Suburban, if you can believe that! Oh, I expect to see his hair cut and the jewelry gone by the time he's out of school. He's a sharp, good-looking young man…hard working too! Milgasia's got plans for that one, you can bet. So I'll call him tonight and get Val covered." 

"Zelgadiss," the mayor continued in his 'take charge' way, "He can move back to his old place with his father, even if he has to sleep on the couch. Worst case, I can put him up here in the coach house…Xelloss too, if necessary."

"Xelloss…might be safest here at the shrine. He's tightening security on our databases and Internet network as part of his priest duties."

"A priest…I'd forgotten all about that. You think he's serious-minded enough for that?" the mayor wondered.

"Surprisingly, yes. He's frighteningly intelligent, but actually quite pleasant company and very conscientious—never late…polite…conducts himself very seriously here at the shrine. I've come to trust him, and now, I suppose, rely on his skills as well. There are quarters for visiting priests where he could stay, should the need arise," Nels Lahda assured his friend.

"Very well. With the boy's safety under control for the time being, what do you want for the Shrine?"

"I think I'll give that officer, ah…Detective McGywn a call and see what he says. He may have already tracked this man down and we may have nothing more to do."

"Ha! We should be so lucky! Eh? Oh, incoming calls, sorry. Listen, we have both got some work ahead of us tonight. How about you call me in the morning and we'll trade updates? Good. Till then…Good bye." The mayor hung up, then picked up the next call. It would be a while before he could give Rezo a call.

~*~

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Xelloss shouted as he practically fell down the stairs from his loft. He'd slept in after the band's late-night drive from Atlas City, and wasn't sure of the time or the day of the week yet.

Unlocking his door and opening it wide revealed, much to his surprise, Joey-- Gourry's soon-to-start-middle-school brother. "Joey?!"

"Ah, hi? Isn't this the day you said to come over? Drum lessons?" Joey asked cautiously. He stood as tall as Xelloss, with straight blond hair cut exactly like Xelloss' purple locks, bangs and all. His grin exposed a missing tooth along one side and crinkles across a freckled nose.

"Drum…Oh…yes, I remember! I owe you money for the watering and weeding too, don't I? That's all right to remind someone of, by the way," Xelloss informed him.. "Make sure you get the pay coming to you! Come in. As you can see, I just woke up and I'm a mess and the drums aren't even set up, so…" Xelloss began.

"I'll unpack the drums while you get dressed…" Joey began.

"Take a shower, THEN get dressed, THEN eat, then I teach you how to set them up. You'll need to know that so you can set them up at your place some time," Xelloss smiled and loosened the tie of his kimono as he prepared to go into his bathroom.

"MY PLACE? You giving that set to ME? AWESOME! Wait until I tell MOM!" Joey gushed.

"Well, you might wait on that piece of the puzzle, or let Gourry help you out. Moms aren't crazy about the sound of drums. That's what got me pushed out here…sorta. Anyway, I have to order new ones first, so it may take a while, okay? Back in 20!" Xelloss smiled and closed the door to his bathroom and turned on the shower. Ah…clean…finally…

Joey happily joined Xelloss and Zel and eventually a groggy Val and tea-sipping Rezo, at the breakfast table for… whatever Zel could find to prepare and call a meal.

"'Lo."

"Hi, Joey. I have some eggs scrambled, like some? Of course, you're a Gabriev, after all, aren't you? You have to fuel that endless growth spurt somehow," Zel muttered as he scraped some eggs onto two plates and passed toast around.

"Yep! Didn't you ever have one?" Joey asked innocently while gobbling up the eggs using the toast as a scoop.

"Oh, he did," Xelloss supplied as he placed an unnecessary fork at the boy's place and one for himself on his plate. "He was shorter at one time. Hey!" he shouted skipping around his chair and ducking a toast Frisbee that Zel had aimed at his head. "Me too! I think I haven't grown for months, my clothes fit the same, see! You've caught up to me, but we're not going to grow much taller, Doctor Adams told me…He could tell by leg bone x-rays. 5'9'' that's it!"

"When did we get leg bone x-rays?" Zel asked suspiciously. "I never hurt my legs, and nor did you. It was Amelia who broke hers."

"Ah…sorry I brought this up," Xelloss began. He was, gratefully, interrupted by Val's grunting hulk staggering into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee to microwave.

"F*&^%$, yer loud."

"Good morning to you too, foster-step-brother Val," Xelloss smiled. "Oh, and there are…is a minor present."

"Eh? Joey? I thought…damn, I don't know what I just thought…coffee…" Val drank in silence.

"So, Zelgadiss?" Joey perked up. "Didja see the garden since ya got back?"

"Ah, no. It was dark and I've only been up a short while, but I'd love a tour after breakfast… A short one. I have an appointment with a master swordsman in an hour," Zel smiled, thinking of the great honor being bestowed upon him.

Padding quietly into the kitchen, Rezo, chairman of the Chemistry department at Seyruun university, listened carefully to the various voices. He knew them all, and was satisfied that all his boys were up and ready to help with his move.

"Ahem, excuse me a moment, gentlemen." The silence of wonder followed Rezo's introduction. "Today, I move and I was hoping for your promised help."

"Music store's countin' on me till 6:00, then I'll box, haul, and carry till dawn," Val sprayed through toast crumbs. 

"I'll be back around 3:00. I'll be wasted, but you can whip what's left of my strength into whatever form you'd like and drive my tortured soul into compliance…"

"You'll be able to help after 3:00 then," Rezo interrupted his son's nonsensical rambling. "And you?"

"After Joey's drum lesson, I am at your service, Sir!" Xelloss said with a short bow and goofy smile.

"Good Gods…fine. Thank you. All right, will you two with cars bring back a few more boxes? I have some but…you never know," Rezo sighed, much like his son.

"I can help too!" Joey piped up.

"Excellent. I'll put both you and Xelloss to work when your lesson's over. Now, one more thing… ah, Joey, go on over to Xelloss' now. He'll be with you in just a minute. This is not for your ears. Thank you."

"Garden, Joey!" Zel corrected. "I'll meet you there first."

Rezo paused until he heard the door slam, then began again, "I have had a couple of disturbing conversations these past few days. Nels Lahda and the mayor…McGywn…They have reason to believe that the syndicate has returned to Seyruun. Yes, that's right. One of them, a foreigner, was trying to purchase the Red Priest's staff! We do not know why."

"I want you to be aware and watchful and if one of us says to move, this is what you do: Val, you stay with Milgasia, Xelloss, you stay at the shrine, and Zelgadiss, you go to my house. Understand? That is the emergency plan so far. I'd like you to prepare a couple changes of clothes and necessities in a bag and leave them at your assigned places. Include a box of your most precious treasures, heirlooms included. Also, please report any suspicious people or events to Detective McGywn. Note the title change. He's no longer officer McGywn. Remember to congratulate him on his promotion next time you speak to him."

Xelloss nodded and without a word, left the room to go next door to his place. Val grumbled a bit while Zel finished washing dishes.

"I'll take a look at that garden now…before I leave," Zel said and closed the door quietly behind him. Lucky for him he did not know it was the last time he would look upon that garden.

"Glad we got those gigs on the road," Val said. "It'll help them, us, deal with this all over again."

"I hope we can halt the threat before it gets serious," Rezo smiled an odd little smile and added, "I have been looking forward to being on my own again. Getting out from under you three kids! Heh, heh…ah well…"

~*~

"So you kids are on your own now?" their lawyer Mr. Fribrizzo asked. "Well, at least you'll be able to afford the taxes…Ah, that's a joke. Oh, sorry, you've never had to pay taxes, have you? Consider it your way to support all your government's programs. Okay, let's start with you, Zelgadiss…"

Later, it was Val's turn. "Your late step-father certainly had a way with numbers, but I think we've traced everything important and can release much of the syndicate portion to you at this time. Here are some figures for you to look over. The difficulty lies with, and this is hard to fathom I know, with the clan. Apparently the clan elders are unwilling to part with the entire Ancient Clan's monumental wealth without more proof…Yes I KNOW! Outrageous! Tens of court orders have been filed with more on the way to try and work this out. It's all a matter of time before…"

"They don't believe Val is who he says he is?" Xelloss asked.

"I think that they are afraid that he IS who he says he is, and that the elders don not wish to see all that wealth slip out of their hands. My problem is … I can't even get a handle on what the inheritance actually includes. There is insurance money, which will get cleared up shortly, but the Ancient Clan was holding onto something, something big, or the Elders would not be fighting so hard. I also think, and this is just my intuition here, that the elders don't know what it is either—and that's the problem. They are trying to put together some package to offer you while working on some agenda of their own."

"Great. So, I have a car and a few million dollars a year income. I'll live. Maybe when I visit my old stompin' grounds next month, Milgasia and I'll turn up somethin'. Least I can start contributin' to the bills here, right? There's real cash in an account fer me? I'm tired of freeloadin' off these guys!" Val said.

"For the time being…Now this is the serious part," Fribrizzo paused for attention. "The syndicate will not leave this situation alone much longer. Many millions of dollars pouring out of their coffers and into the hands of legitimate individuals is…going to draw attention, sooner or later."

"I choose… later!" Xelloss chirped. 

"It's already starting, we think," Zelgadiss said soberly.

~*~

When Thursday rolled around, it was time to pack for the road again. They had gigs Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at an assortment of outdoor country fairs. An exhausting and exhilarating experience.

"On the road again, oh oh ooooooh! Yeah we're on the road again!" Nuriko sang while Xelloss played drums on back of the seat in front of him.

"Mr. Xelloss, pleeeeease don't do that! Can't you see that it's disturbing Mr. Chichiri in front of you?" Amelia chastised the purple-haired kid beside her.

"He's asleep, Miss Amelia dear," Xelloss smiled. "Why not choose a song and sing along? You too!"

Mitsukage grunted in the back, "I'm saving my voice for tonight, thank you. You should too. The vocal cords are very delicate instruments and once strained, can only be cured with rest. That means, if you wear out your voice, you'll not be singing for some time."

"Naturally. What good advice, Mitsukage," sniffed Yui seated beside him.

"Oh…Okay," Xelloss sighed. Nuriko rolled his eyes and jammed a CD into the player. This was going to be the quiet car.

"So tell me about Amelia. You've known her a long time, huh? She talks about YOU a lot. You sure get into a lot of tight spots! Like the time you carried her all the way from the high school to Xelloss' house. I mean, she's not FAT or anything but she's gotta be heavy, 'cause she's really grown this summer, don'tcha think?" Chiriko asked the sober-faced, older kid beside him.

Zel looked down at his hands, flexing them and thinking about the feeling of squeezing, tightening them around his neighbor's little neck. "Xelloss carried her as well, probably more than half the way. Why not ask him?"

Mistake. If you don't want a conversation, don't ask questions. Zel, of all persons should have known that! He did, he just slipped up…

"He's not here! You are, though. So, Amelia's really smart, isn't she? Was she a good actress too? Must have been, huh? Her voice is like an angel's!"

Zel choked on his own saliva. Angel? Oh, gods… His disgust was apparent, "Don't be an idiot. She's just a girl with an average voice who works hard at school and at everything she does!"

"I had a dream about her once," Chiriko continued.

"Do not tell me about it. "

"Oh, I wouldn't," Chiriko said blushing. "She kissed like an angel too…"

"Gahh!" Zel groaned. "She's a pretty average kisser too," he mumbled unintentionally.

"What? You've…you've actually… kissed Amelia!"

Oh, joy. What had he done now? "She kissed me…now drop it." Zel looked askance at the wide-eyed innocent seated next to him. "Xelloss has kissed her also, so you can ask him for him opinion as well," Zel added somewhat maliciously.

"No! She's not that... forward! I don't believe you!"

"You might try a guy named … Gourry! Hey, Gourry, what was the name of that guy Amelia was going OUT with? Merlin, Marvin…Melvin? Right, thanks. You might get in touch with him too," Zel smirked. Now why had he done that? Why spoil the kid's naive image of his 'angel' dream girl? Why indeed?

Val, driving, smirked at Gourry, remarking, "Zel, the cold-hearted bastard has returned, I take it…"

This was going to be heart-breaker car.

Hotohori and Tamahome took turns driving their band's van and filled the front seats. Lina chose to sit next to Tasuki, while Sylphiel, Filia and Miaka got to know one another better.

"So don't tell me you guys don't have crushes on some of the guys in your band, huh?" Miaka asked coercively, eyes gleaming with excitement at the prospect. This time she'd struck gold. Between Filia's penchant for trading gossip and Sylphiel's romantic notions, Miaka wouldn't have mine for her nuggets.

"Sylphiel can't make up her mind, can she?" Filia smiled. "Gourry, Xelloss, Gourry, Xelloss…ha, ha…"

"Filia!" Sylphiel cried out, blushing. "That coming from the girl who teases both Val and Xelloss…"

"For gods'sakes leave Xelloss off my list! He is simply the biggest annoyance…the thorn in my side…" Filia started defensively.

"And best kisser…" Sylphiel added dreamily. "And rich…"

"Rich?" Miaka's attention trapped.

"Oh, he and Val and Zel…" Sylphiel continued, oblivious to Filia's motions shut up! 

"WILL BE," Filia's raised voice overpowering her friend's, "…after we make it big, she means, Miaka." Then in a kinder tone, Filia continued, "Actually, since Val spends time at the settlement with me and Xelloss is a priest in the same shrine as Sylphiel, gives them an edge. But Zel and Gourry are dears, too, aren't they?"

Having realized her near-blunder—giving away a very important secret the three boys wanted kept at all costs, for as more people would know of their wealth, the more questions they would be asked and the more gold-diggers they would encounter—Sylphiel considered her words and answers more carefully from that time forward. 

"Oh, yes. Gourry is the kindest, gentlest…SIGH! and Zel… I knew him before his accident, you know? He was the most beautiful boy in the whole school and I loved him…as much as any fifth grader could," she giggled. The others joined her, remembering their own first loves.

This was the dreaming car.

It was also the glutton car. "Food!" Lina declared, trying to throw a monkey-wrench into the sap-machine. "I'm hungry. What say we pull over and find a convenience store to hit? I could really go for a nice gut-buster burrito and an abyssal soda, how 'bout you guys?" 

Food was always on Miaka's 'to do' list, and so the two ravenous girls demanded that Hotohori skid into another lane and bring them to food.

"Hey, lookout Val!" Gourry pointed out the window. 

"Shit! Where's the 'Emperor' headin' off too? OH… That looks interestin'," Val grinned. Gourry nodded.

"Hotohori I will follow you anywhere, but where do you think you're going now?" Nuriko murmured to no one in particular.

"EVERYTHING ARTICHOKE ?!?!?!?!?!?!" Exclaimed seventeen young men and women in three different vehicles.

Indeed. They parked and piled out, Lina and Miaka leading the pack, Gourry and Amelia close behind. 

"This is the BEST place!" Miaka gushed, her face resplendent. 

"Specialty: Giant Deep-fried Artichoke with drawn butter and garlic dip," Xelloss read.

"Sounds…fattening," Sylphiel whispered in his ear.

"I agree. What do you think of the cream-of-artichoke soup? Oh…my…" his eyes went wide.

"What is it?" Sylphiel gasped, clutching his arm and trembling.

"Garlic Ice cream," he said making a face. "I can't imagine…"

"M...Me neither! You're not going to…order it are you?" she asked in horror.

"Of course not. I think I'll go for the soup and garlic bread. How about you? What would you like?" he smiled and added, "My treat."

Her eyes glazed over with joy and brain shut down, "You…I mean, you order for me…the same as what you're having, thank you."

He smiled and placed their orders. That wasn't so hard was it? He enjoyed having a beautiful girl hanging on his arm, tongue-tied and blushing. Deprived of speech, yes, that helped.

They joined an aloof Zelgadiss at a small table. He had ordered the same meal. "How embarrassing," Xelloss snickered. "We might as well be at home."

Zel watched the other two from beneath his bangs. Sylphiel was blushing and gushing and Xelloss was smiling and apparently enjoying the attention. "Excuse me," Zel said, rising from the table.

He struck for the great outdoors and fresh air. Sap. He hated sap as much as Lina did.

The emptied plates and platters rose to eye-level as Lina and Miaka did their best to try each and every artichoke dish on the menu. Gourry and Amelia were at the other end of the table, which was threatening to collapse with the weight of the combined service-wear.

How long had he been sitting alone? Zel wondered as he noticed the familiar sounds of his friends' voices. They were exiting the restaurant, coming his way.

Lina had been trying to wear Tamahome down. She wanted to change the arrangement of one of their combined songs. She'd been logical, demanding, and tried various forms of bribery and coercion, but now she was down to her last method. She smiled cutely and batted her eyelashes, "Oh, please??? It would mean so much to meeeee????"

Zel turned away pained at the sound. Lina, oh, Lina…et tu Lina? Worse than the betrayal of Brutus was that of Lina…the honey dripping from her lips like blood from a vampire's. 

Her prey stopped and slumped to the side a little, "All right, Lina. I'll give it a try before the show…at warm up."

Unable to witness further humiliation on the part of either one of them, Zel quickly ran off in another direction. If his intent was to avoid more of the sappy behavior, he was to be thwarted at every turn. Chiriko was pressing one of Amelia's hands between his own, eyes watery and intense. Must find somewhere else! Faster! The fact that he was insisting that Amelia pay a larger share of the bill since she'd eaten far more that he had was lost on poor Zel.

Tasuki was pressing Filia for information, the brilliant blend of her gold and his russet locks, sparkled in the sunlight of the afternoon. He had wanted her to go steal Val's keys for him, so he could give his Suburban a test drive. "Please, oh, Filia please!!!!!" he pleaded, practically melting at her side.

"Gah!" Zel gasped audibly. Tasuki too?! He was as disgusted by romance as he, wasn't he? He hated girls, didn't he? Zel stumbled on, missing the gist of the "couples'" conversations. Misguided and disillusioned, he came to the sad conclusion that he and he alone was immune from the dangerous arrows of cupid. He was destined to walk alone, face the struggle of life on his own, to climb the unclimbable, unclimbed cliff…shit what was he thinking about anyway?

"Zel! Zel!" Lina hollered across two parking lots and a street. "Get your rear in gear and hurry up! We're ready to go and--where in hell do you think you're going? We have two hours to go and if you make me wait one more minute, I'm going to pound your head into your butt and out the other way for each second past…That's better. What's your problem anyway?"

"I'm losing my mind, nothing for you to worry about Lina, the guitar fingers still work so just ignore me…."

"Zel, you are such a martyr…" she slapped his back and smirked. 

It was a grueling weekend made possible by improved accommodations; they still shared rooms, but each kid had a separate bed and the hotel had a swimming pool, sauna, and restaurant. Lina knew it was nicer than what she'd arranged, and LOTS more expensive, but when she attempted to question Xelloss, he simply smiled and resorted to his familiar, "But you know, Lina, that…that's a secret!" So, of course she knew that he'd personally paid for the upgrade in services.

Lina mused a moment, made the mental adjustment, "Well, he can afford it!" then moved on to the next requirement, "So, who knows the best food joints in this place?"

"So," Sylphiel began. "Which do YOU think is the cutest?"

Amelia, Miaka, and Filia glanced over the group of kids clustered at the other tables. 

Miaka was first to speak up, "Tamahome! He's the best although… Hotohori…Xelloss is funny and cute… and Zelgadiss is so sexy, but then so is that Val guy! Gourry's dreamy…"

Amelia smiled, "Well… I have to admit that Mr. Tamahome is right up there! Mr. Hotohori is a little too 'fine' for my tastes, Mr. Chichiri's funny and nice, Mr. Mitsukage is…very handsome, but a little old for me. Mr. Gourry's so sweet, Mr. Val's…cool, but I have to say that I have a special place in here," she pressed her hand over her heart, "…for Mr. Zelgadiss. I guess I always will in some way."

"And Chiriko? You left him out!" Filia said teasingly.

"I left out Mr. Tasuki too! They are both very interesting people," Amelia said. She realized that she would have to say more or they'd never leave her alone. "All right… I like to spend time with Chiriko. He's fun to talk to, nice, cute, and closest to my age. There, satisfied?"

"Hardly," Filia laughed. "But that was better. Sylphiel? What was going on at lunch with you and…the purple menace?"

The pretty dark-haired girl sighed, "He bought me lunch. And carried it to a table. And sat and talked to just me…I have no idea what he said either, I just…"

"You were lovely as usual and so probably confused the idiot enough to leave the rest of the female population alone," Filia sniffed.

"Is he dumb or something?" Miaka asked unsure of Filia's meaning.

"Xelloss? Oh, he and Zel are the smartest guys at the school! They're going to take math and science classes at the university in fall and they're just juniors! Filia and him fight all the time, so…" Sylphiel said glibly. 

"So you must like him too, right?!" Miaka said, a little too loudly, causing their nearest neighbors to look up. 

Filia's face burned, but Sylphiel found her tongue first, "Oh you wouldn't say that if you'd seen Filia the other day out at the settlement!"

Filia started. What was Sylphie talking about?

Sylphiel was rambling on, "…and there he was all tall and bronzed by the sun…muscled arms…You should have seen her face—practically DROOLING! Well, I have to admit Julian…"

"WHO?" Filia shouted out, choking in surprise. "J-Julian? My cousin?" That was not the young man she'd been thinking about. Tall and bronzed, fer sure, but lanky limbs, muscled attractively gleaming with sweat from his hard, honest labor, a few tendrils of minty-green hair glued to his damp neck…Val had never looked more earthy and appealing…

"Ye-esss, the tennis pro? So cool and confident…" Sylphiel said.

"Eh! He's just an employee at Val's country club, and my cousin. So self-absorbed and not very nice to Quinny. That's my baby brother," Filia added for Miaka's sake.

"Val's Club? I thought that was just Xelloss joking around?" Sylphiel gasped, clueless.

"Oh, Sylphie!" Filia sighed and laughed.

Miaka wasn't sure what to think. Val, the punk kid, owning a country club? Now who was fooling who? "Filia! You almost got me with that one! Val, owning a club…what a joke! He works in a dusty music store and plays in your band. He couldn't possibly afford one and…of all people! That's sooo funny!"

Filia pretended to laugh at her own joke. Money, wealth, secrets…Val had his too and it was her place to help him keep them. "Ah, well…Now… I find your Mitsukage veery intriguing. A doctor, huh? But you're very lucky having so many good-looking and talented guys who obviously admire you."

"Yes, aren't' I?" Miaka laughed. "And as long as Yui comes with me, I can travel around with them all this summer!"

"So what d'yer think they're talking 'bout?" Gourry asked Zelgadiss.

"Who?" Zel looked up and followed Gourry's glance to the side. "Oh. Us. I'm afraid that my above normal hearing enables me to overhear more conversations than I'd care to. They think you are nice, Xelloss fun, Tamahome the best to look at and Val…interesting. I didn't catch what they said about me."

"Liar," Gourry said under his breath, and stabbed his spoon into his dessert.

Zel's eye flew up to find Gourry, "I heard that!"

Gourry smiled, "I know. Just testin'."

"What? My hearing or my sense of humor?" Zel asked.

Gourry smiled, shook his head, and chuckled, "I can read lips with my above-average eyesight, ya know." 

Xelloss' giggling bubbled up through the line at the soft-serve ice cream, make-your-own sundae-bar. 

Val's overflowing bowl landed on the table, seconds before he spilled it, "Damned, shitheaded…" He muttered falling heavily into his seat at their table.

He was soon followed by Xelloss carrying his gross concoction sporting pickles peaking out of a soft mound of vanilla cream topped with blue-raspberry syrup…with whipped-cream and a cherry on top. "Ahhhhh…" he said settling lightly onto his own chair beside Zel.

"Ah, nice sundae, Xelloss. Umm, Val, you must be hungry," Gourry observed.

"WAS! I don't wanna talk about it. Xelloss, better watch yer back," Val threatened.

"You, Vally-boy, are the least of my problems," Xelloss teased, then swept clean the pickle held delicately between his finger tips with his tongue, suggestively.

Val growled a string of obscenities, and abruptly ripped the pickle away, flung it across the restaurant, then lurched out of his chair, knocking it over as he bolted away. Xelloss was laughing uncontrollably, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Maybe yer oughta lay off the practical jokes awhile," Gourry said in a low serious voice.

"What? But he's so much fun to tease and he's pulled some nasty stunts on me as well. It's not all evil little me!" Xelloss said a bit defensively.

"I'm just saying," Gourry continued, "… that since we're all livin' and breathin' work-an'-play together every day like this… that someone might get hurt an' mess up the band." He gave Xelloss a hard look, rare for him, then softened. "This road trip means a lot to Lina, to all of us, and I want it to be good, not a pain."

Nodding, Xelloss put down his spoon, "Val likes it. He expresses his negative emotions without breaking things this way."

"Sorta. He's competin' with ya. Stunts, money, girls… especially the last, I think. He doesn't like ta get beat by…"

"By a nerdy misfit like me? Yeah, I can see that doesn't make him look too good, but I'm nothing like him and not going for his girl!" Xelloss said.

"Aren't ya?"

"Filia? You must be kidding?!"

"Then who are ya tryin' to impress?"

"No one. I'm just being me, or trying to be. Of course, if that makes me irresistible to certain people of the female gender… who am I to complain? I wouldn't exclude…anyone."

"Even Filia," Gourry growled, not asked.

"Even Lina, if she cared, which she doesn't, so do stop glaring at me, Mr. Nice-guy. I'm not on the hunt. I'm simply playing a game with Val, which HE started. And if he wants to put a stop to it, then he can tell me himself. Hmm, this can use a little more ice cream…" he smiled and left the table carrying his dessert bowl.

"That didn't go right," Gourry sighed. "I didn't wanna start a fight with him. More like the opposite."

Zelgadiss shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe we've all just been spending a little too much time together lately. Conflicts are bound to occur. I sincerely believe that he doesn't mean to be so annoying. It's more like something's bothering him and he's over-compensating…"

Zel met Gourry's curious gaze. Gourry was not convinced.

"Or… maybe this is the real him and he's an asshole," Zel sighed.

"Yeah, or some of both. He's got a good heart and has been through stuff I'd never…I can't even imagine survivin'. He's been a good friend, it's just…I don't know, he's different, I guess," Gourry said finally.

"He's that all right. He got a disturbing letter just before we left and there's a new threat... Rezo warned us that it might be syndicate trying to make inroads again. He's more bothered by that then he lets on."

Gourry stiffened, "That's bad news, Zel. Does Lina know?"

"No. I felt it best to wait until after this trip. Enjoy life to the fullest while we can," Zel smirked.

Gourry sank back into his chair and closed his eyes, his handsome face troubled. "We don't need this. It's not fair. They were just gettin' back to normal."

"Gourry, listen. It may be nothing. A false warning from parents feeling guilty for not doing something earlier when they had the chance. Paranoia. Xelloss is…troubled enough without adding that to his list of mental illnesses. That's why we decided not to tell Lina or the others. You're steady enough to handle it, I know."

"Val knows too? Yeah…he's edgy. Well, thanks, that explains him and Xelloss fightin'. I feel better…knowin'," Gourry said to his friend.

"Sharing the load helps."

"Yep." 

"THEN IT'S SETTLED!" Lina yelled. "TELL 'EM, AMELIA!"

"Ah, now I remember what I wanted to tell Lina," Gourry said.

"Too late…" Zel muttered.

"Yes, Miss Lina!" Amelia grinned and bounded to a greater height, precariously balanced on the back of a booth seat. "After this we're all going to the county fair and ride ALL the rides at least TWICE!"

Everyone cheered. Everyone loved rides. Well, almost everyone. Zelgadiss blanched and tried to imagine how he would smoothly avoid the carnival rides when Amelia leaped off her perch to stand beside him. 

"Oh, Mr. Zelgadiss, There's one ride called 'The Zipper' that's really scary. Wold you go on that one with me?"

All eyes were turned to him, including Chiriko's green ones. "Ah…of course…"Zel sighed, closing his eyes against a rising feeling of nausea. 

"Thanks! Miss Lina thought you'd be too…wimpy, but I knew better!" Amelia cried, gave his arm a little squeeze, and hoped off happily.

"Oh, joy…" Zel muttered to himself.

He thought.

"How strange… I wouldn't think you'd like rides," Xelloss said in a low voice near his ear.

"I don't."

"Ah, then, you are…" Xelloss stopped as he caught sight of the other, younger boy's angry expression from across the room. "I see…you're playing a game with Chiriko and Amelia."

"That's not true. I just didn't want to make a scene now," Zel said, turned and followed the others out to the waiting cars.

"Of course, little brother. I believe you," Xelloss smirked and fell in with the line up onto the 'quiet' van.

"NEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Lina screamed as she flew through the air. The ride's wire cage didn't seem enough to hold her, so badly she wanted to be flung across the sky. She couldn't fly herself, so this had to be the surrogate…

Amelia had to agree. She was in heaven, feeling the wind around her and ignoring the whip-lash.

Zel watched them go around the 'ring of death' impassively. He wondered if anyone would notice if he just slunk off right then… Oh, and then they were stumbling off, dragging him to go buy hot dogs and cotton candy. Sigh…

They went on the 'tilt-a-whirl', 'black widow', a roller coaster, the 'sky-diver', and three others. Every ride meant another fifteen minutes or so that Zel was free.

If Lina and Amelia loved rides for the flight, Val loved them for the death-defying side. He loved to be scared to death, ten laugh in the face of it. Of course, feeling Filia grab him in terror wasn't too bad, either. Xelloss was starting to envy him, as his ride-buddy was Chiriko, who was scared out of his wits and clingier than saran-wrap. "Oh, help mee!!!" he screamed.

Zel was caught between nauseating rides and equally nauseating sap. Of the Suzaku Seven, only Chiriko, Tasuki, and Nuriko went on rides with the Slayers. Mitsukage was not present, of course, and the others—Hotohori and Tamahome were winning ugly stuffed prizes for the fan-girls, with Chichiri chauffeuring them like a disinterested parent.

"Oh, Tamahome! You're sooo good at these games!" Yui would purr.

"Miaka, watch this!" Hotohori would vie for the brown-haired little glutton's attentions as shamelessly as the blonde girl did for Tamahome's, or Nuriko did for his. 

Zel didn't even want to know what the story was behind that sick love polygon. Maybe he should try to converse with Chichiri, he seemed marginally sane…

But there they were again! The group, with their candy-colored hair, swamped him again. "We're going on the 'Zipper,' Mr. Zelgadiss! Come on, I'll even buy your ticket!" Amelia insisted.

"Um…" Zel gulped invisibly, he hoped. 

Before he had a chance to formulate a believable excuse, Amelia fell back, nearly causing Zel to run into her.

"Amelia?" 

"Ugh…Oh…I'm not feeling so gooo…" she began, clutching her abdomen and scrunching up her face in pain.

"I'll get you to a bathroom," Zel whispered. Sweeping her up in a smooth move- he had done this several times in the past- and began to run. Nausea was a feeling he had a great familiarity with, and sympathy for. There was only one end to it, and it wasn't pleasant or pretty. Privacy. It definitely required privacy, and water. "Almost there…you'll make it. You're one tough little…not so little, ah…person. You have grown heavier…"

Seeing that they had reached their destination, Amelia slapped his arm to let him know that she wanted down and didn't appreciate the personal weight reference. He understood, set her down, and watched her scurry off into the pastel-tiled ladies room.

"AH…" he sighed audibly. He'd escaped the trauma of being the one to get sick on a ride, escaped the ride, and done a good deed, all in one lucky moment. So, his karma was working FOR him for a change. That thought alone left him uneasy.

Zelgadiss convinced Lina that it was INDEED time to go. The drivers were tired, her best friend was uncomfortable, and the Seven-plus-two were pushing to leave as well. "If we stay any longer, there will be no room for us to sit, only stuffed animals."

"Fine," she acquiesced. "Bunch of party poopers, right Gourry?"

"Right, Lina. There's no one like you!" Then he remembered, "Oh, Lina! I need to tell you something important, at least I THINK it's important…"

There was something in the way he emphasized the words, a seriousness in his tone that indicated that this was a mater of importance. "Yeah? Who were you sitting by? I'll go find 'im and change places!" Lina said. 

As a result, a few changes in the return seating were made. Gourry was happy to trade with Filia, giving up his place beside Val, to be with Lina in Tamahome's car. Tasuki understood, and moved to sit with Miaka and Sylphiel, allowing Lina and Gourry to sit together.

"So, what's up, Gourry?" Lina asked.

"Huh? Oh, ah… ya know I've been workin' at yer place…fixin' stuff…"

"Uh, huh, and?" she was getting impatient. If only he was a little bit more like Zel, curt and to the point.

"And… out by yer wood pile…"

"We gotta woodpile? Yeah?"

"Yeah, I had ta move it ta paint. So I found an axe. Musta fallen an' been hidden away fer years."

"Axe? Cool!" Lina loved axes. Dwarves and axes. Her with an axe, hmmm….

"Yeah, real big and nice lookin' too. But what made it special ta me was…ah…" he lowered his voice to whisper in her ear. "It had this strange designed on the part ya hold? And on the butt end was that thingy…like on my sword and Zel's, that picture thing."

"Wow! I gotta heirloom weapon too?" she said in a raspy, excited whisper. "Did ya tell Luna?"

"NO, I put it under yer bed. Was that a mistake?" he was worried.

"She doesn't know? Good! It's mine then! Ya did good Gourry. Real good. I owe ya!"

"Yer welcome, Lina," he smiled, satisfied to have pleased her at last, and she hadn't even punched him for entering her bedroom.

"What were you doing in my room?" she asked, eyes flashing dangerously.

"I…did knock first…"

"Hmmm," she growled. "I'll let it pass this time. An axe, eh?" She grinned and he relaxed, started breathing again, and smiled bravely.

In another van where the seating had undergone a few changes, Amelia stretched out, head on Zel's lap in the shorter middle seat of her van, while Xelloss kindly took the seat empty beside Chiriko. "Oh, don't be so glum. He has no interest in her whatsoever," Xelloss smiled at Chiriko. "He considers himself too old, or is it that she's too young? I forget which. They just have a great deal of history together. Like you and Miaka, I imagine?"

Chiriko blushed and said nothing to the older, smiling guy with the scary eyes.

Zelgadiss straightened up suddenly. Something was wrong. The van was quiet with its load of slumbering kids, except for the hum of the engine and now the scream of sirens. Was he the only one to hear it? The van turned down a familiar avenue. It was his neighborhood. He slipped out from under Amelia and crawled, shakily to the front of the van, just as they turned one last time and screeched to a stop. 

"No…" Zel gasped. He stumbled over outstretched feet as he rushed to the door. "No…" He moaned and tore open the van door and leaped out.

"NO!" he screamed, running forward, the red flashing emergency lights flashing in the gloom and smoke.

He pushed past a few bystanders, soon joined by others familiar to him, friends and neighbors. "No…" he whimpered in disbelief.

Above the roar of flames and shouts of firemen directing the hoses, Zelgadiss' sharp ears picked out Xelloss' anguished cries. "NO!"

There. Zel caught sight of Val wrapped around Xelloss' figure holding him back.

"LET ME GOOOOOO! I gotta goooo!" Xelloss screamed.

Tightening his grip, Val was forcing himself to remain in place and said through gritted teeth, "Can't do that…it's only stuff! Stuff! You go in there and you will die! GET IT!"

Zel saw Xelloss slump, then fall to his knees sobbing as he watched his home, their home, burn to the ground in the night.

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Three. ~*~


	4. Chapter 4

The Slayers: Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel

.

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Four

"Mr. Zelgadiss?" Amelia called as she knocked at the door to his room in the carriage house. "Please, it's lunchtime… and it's hot out here…Hi!"

Zelgadiss, recently awakened, opened the door and squinted into the brilliant sunlight. "Hi. Sorry, I must have been dead to the world. Just a second and I'll get Beast up too. He needs…something."

He roused the slumbering animal and scratched his head, "Come on boy, let's see what the leftovers are like at the Mayor's, eh?" 

"Daddy's gone for the day, as you'd expect, but there's plenty to eat, I'm sure. The cook should be back from shopping any time with real dog food and your father called to say we should take you over to meet the insurance adjusters at 1:30."

"Thank you, Amelia. Your family's been very kind…"

"And you guys were so smart to collect those emergency clothes and things before you left last week," Amelia smiled.

"Yes well that would have gone up in smoke too if Rezo hadn't insisted Val drop the boxes off before we went…and that we include our special things as well."

"Pictures?"

Nodding, Zel expanded the list, "Yearbooks, awards, keepsakes, heirlooms…amazing that we did that…Val's crate from his mother, Xelloss' staff and box of mementos… He'd just given me some things that had belonged to my mother, his sister. I might have lost those forever." He shook his head and ran his fingers past his eyes, clearing away stray lavender bangs.

Patting Beast on the head, Amelia looked down and crooned to the wolf-dog, "And we are soooo glad you were staying with the professor while we were gone, aren't we?" She walked on ahead and held open one of the back doors to the mansion, "And our equipment and musical instruments are stored with you in the carriage house for now."

She was relieved that Zelgadiss was composed and speaking to her. He hadn't said a word the night before as he witnessed his home of less than a year burn in an extremely hot, unnatural blaze. Beside his father and friends, Zel had clung to the wolf-dog, eyes brimming with tears a short time, then allowed himself to be driven home by the mayor. 

Rezo had offered to stay and deal with the officers and firemen, permitting the boys to leave and sleep off some of the shock. Luna was on the scene. She had been returning home from work, when she spied the smoke. Later, she drove Lina and Filia back to her place for the night, while Gourry drove Val in his new Suburban to his home. Xelloss and Sylphiel were taken to the shrine… 

~*~

Knock, knock 

Xelloss opened the door to his tiny, single-room in the 'visiting priest' section of the shrine. On the floor was his box of keep-sakes, his ruby-capped priest's staff, and a bag containing all that remained of his wardrobe—two pairs of pants, socks, underwear, a t-shirt and a log-sleeved, cotton shirt. Beside his cot-like bed stood a small table with his toothbrush, deodorant, and shampoo bottle. His damp towel hung from a hook and his hairbrush was in his hand. 

"Yes? Sylphiel? You are not supposed to be in this part of the shrine, my dear…" he smiled, then opened his eyes.

"'A priestess may enter the priests' dormitories to convey a message', quote, unquote from the rulebook and I'm here to escort you to lunch!" The tall slender girl smiled shyly beneath his dark gaze. "I, ah…packed a picnic to take to the gardens, if you like… We have just enough time before you gotta go meet with insurance guys."

"Picnic? I'd be delighted. Lead on!"

She settled the basket brimming with goodies in a shady spot, while Xelloss shook out a blanket and spread it on the grass.

"We'll have to eat this fast, before the dessert melts!" she warned as she passed him a carefully wrapped sandwich and a napkin.

"No problem. I'm starving. Chips and pickles, too? Oh, yes…Hmm… so what's for desert? Slap! Ouch!"

She giggled at his feigned look of outrage, "No peeking! You KNOW you have to eat your meal first! Growing boys need nutritious food…"

"I'm NOT a boy! I'm a MAN. And I don't seem to be growing much any more…" he pouted, "…but I'll eat!" He met her gray-toned eyes a moment, then smiled his eyes closed and adjusted his glasses. "This is good, thanks for going to all the trouble."

"OH! No trouble at all, not … for you."

They passed the time quietly eating and talking about the tour and fair. Finally Sylphiel ventured into the topic she'd been avoiding. "What are you going to do?"

"Do? Oh, about the house, well…it depends… Zelgadiss may not… I don't know…We'll see what the insurance agent says and… more importantly, I need to replace my contacts, clothes, ah…my computer stuff…" he ending in a groan.

Placing a slight hand on his arm she said comfortingly, "You can stay here as long as you want."

~*~

Val shook his head. Shit. Where was he anyway? At first it was like his troubled past, waking up from a late night of partying on the couch, or worse, of some stranger's place—but this place was nice… and clean…

"Val? VA-AL! You up?" called a young voice from the other side of the door.

"Uh…yeah, sure…" Val growled, pulling on the same pants he'd worn the night before, still smelling of smoke. He couldn't tell if it was a girl or boys voice that he had heard, but since it was Gourry's family room couch under him, it could be either Joey or one of the girls. He searched, bleary-eyed for his shirt, as a blonde head popped in through the opening door.

"Sorry if I woke yuh or anythin' but Gourry said I should take yuh over tuh the garage room tuh shower an' he's got some stuff yuh can wear, 'though yer thinner than him… Wow! And yuh got cool scars too! Not so…awful as Xel's but…awesome…and anyway…Gourry says a guy called an' yer gotta go meet some guys 'bout the place at 1:30 and you'll wanna eat and so…"

Val held up a hand like a shield, "Yeah, I got about halfa that. Take me to Gourry then…and ah…my step-dad gave me mosta these…not cool…" he added while snatching up his dirty shirt and cramming it over his head and down, covering his marked torso.

~*~

The two unusually tall men stood close together and spoke in low voices. One, with pitiless eyes, spiky blue hair, and a harsh demeanor shook his head, challenging his comrade's words: "Sirius, think again. We don't have time to be careful anymore, if we ever did. We must find those relics and…"

"And how do you propose we find them, Erulogos? Ransack every home, office and shrine? Methods that would place us no better than the syndicate slime, and we must rise above that. Yes, we must do our duty, but we should also attempt to leave this place intact, its people and their livelihoods safe!" Sirius' voice rose slightly. He ran a nervous hand through his odd, pink-tinted and streaked hair. "I want to stop the threat to OUR land, but not at the cost of THESE peoples' land!"

"You are soft, brother. You take on too much personal responsibility for our actions…and this will cause you to fail. 'Find the relics'—those are our orders to find and deliver them, when the time comes. Yes, I will be as ruthless as I must, and I shall succeed. The future of our people depends on it!" Erulogos spat.

"And what of these people? What of their future, brother?"

"Let them look to their own, and may the strongest survive…"

~*~

Amelia had been expressing her concerns about certain odd statements Chiriko had made to her while at the fair, when Zelgadiss interrupted…

"He even chose to ride with Mr. Xelloss instead of me! I can't think of what I could have done to have…"

"Before you go any further, Amelia, I need to tell you that… it was me. I was the one who told Chiriko that… we'd...and Xelloss had…and even him, uh, that other guy…Mel…vin…" Zelgadiss said in a low voice, barely, and blushing slightly with shame of his admission. 

"YOU! You told him that! About us kissing? Why?! Why would you do such a mean thing? Now he thinks I'm some kind of… I don't know the word… easy, brazen… messing around with the guys in my band… on over-night gigs! Is that what YOU think of ME too?!" Amelia yelled, angry with the cold boy with the folded arms standing beside her.

"No, I don't."

"THEN WHY? That really hurts! He was a friend, a nice friend who I liked and now…" 

"I don't know why… sorry…" he said, although his tone of voice said 'tough shit'. How could he explain 'why' to Amelia, when HE didn't know why in hell he had spouted such personal crap to the kid in the van? And right now he was more concerned about losing his home and possessions. Who could have done such a thing, and why???

Whack! 

He hadn't even defended himself. Why should he have? Amelia had never slapped him before, but now caught off-guard, he simply gaped a moment, stared at her, then turned away. He'd deserved it, really.

"I'm a NICE girl! A-And I won't let you take my nice-ness for granted, Mr. Zel-Ga-diss! You…you are a very inconsiderate person!" she cried out to his back, then marched away.

Sigh… Well, THAT was another disaster. As if the fire wasn't enough… Checking his watch, he noted that he'd have to hurry to catch the bus, if he was going to make it to the meeting on time…probably be late.

~*~

"That dessert was wonderful, Miss Sylphiel," Xelloss adding the 'Miss' part humorously as he strained to see what she was doing. He'd have to get new glasses too!

"Thank you! Now lean down and closer… " she said as she raised the flower-studded crown of twigs higher, "…and…there! I crown you 'Prince of the Garden'!" Amid giggles, his and hers, she fit her crudely crafted band of weeds to his head and sat back to admire her workmanship.

"So how do I look?" he asked wrinkling up his nose at a dangling plume of purple loosestrife, tickling his nose in the process.

"Hmm…" The pretty girl brushed his heavy bangs to the side and poked the offending flowers deeper into the twigs. "Better…" 

Both hands were resting on his shoulders. She was very close.

"It's getting hot…" he observed.

"Hmm…" she nodded then kissed him lightly on the cheek.

"Ah…it's really time for me to go, if I'm to make that appointment on time. And you KNOW how our Zelgadiss is about being on time!" he said pulling away gently. She didn't release him quite so fast though.

"Sylphiel," he said in a kind, but more serious tone, "You have a meeting with the other priestesses as well, which you need to be on time for."

"I can be a little late…"

"No!" he said abruptly, then more gently explained. "I have to work at getting and keeping people's trust…yes, like your father's in particular."

"But after losing your house and all… he wouldn't expect you to…"

"That's the point! All the more reason for us to act responsibly and be on time!"

Sylphiel had to blink to make sure that Xelloss hadn't suddenly transformed into another person overnight. "Oh, all right…"

Pulling her to her feet, Xelloss added, "And… I'd promised him pretty much that I'd keep my hands off of you, which is VERY hard when you look at me that way, my dear!"

"You mean like this?" she stared at him with big puppy-dog eyes.

"Yes!" he grinned and poked her on the forehead with a finger. Then they both started giggling as Xelloss grabbed hold of the basket and staggered on back.

~*~

"Hey, thanks man fer the rags. All my stuff's gone or out at the settlement right now," Val nodded to his equally tall friend and dripping water from his clean hair. "Not my style though…"

"Yeah, yer a regular skater-dude now. Guess yer skinnier than me, huh? Kinda baggy in the extreme. So, looks like we gotta eat quick so ya can make that meetin' with some insurance guys." Gourry plucked off some grapes and passed a box of cereal to Val.

"Shit…gotta move AGAIN! And I lost my computer and all…"

"How bout yer place? We're nearly done fixin' Lina's place and can work on yer old house. It could be done and you an' Zel and Xelloss could move in … a few weeks or less if I call in more help," Gourry suggested.

"That is ONE good idea! Come with me to this meetin' an' talk it over with the others, 'kay?"

"Sure. Anythin' to help."

~*~

"We will pay you #50,000 for each relic you deliver, and a bonus if you can do it by the end of next week." Sirius spoke in a flat-toned voice. He chose to enlist help from the two young men; they had already lead him to the home of another of their kind, a kid alone in the world, whose name was all he had on a strip of paper—VAL GAAV. The home had been empty, boarded up for some time with a few strips of yellow 'police crime area' warning tape blowing in the wind.

"I should like to find this person, Val Gaav. His home was abandoned," the streaky, pink-hair man intoned.

"Oh, eh…ya want him, too? Shouldda said so in the first place! He don't live there anymore. Here I'll write out the new address for ya… want us to take you there too?" asked the extremely short red-headed kid with beady eyes and pointed nose, known simply as Jillas.

"Do ya think we outta give out that number? Da boss, he don't want strangers snoopin' 'bout, what with him bein' clan now an' all…" Gravos was a big, dumb thug-like kid with a shaved head, but he was a very loyal friend.

"Do not be concerned. I am no stranger, just a clan member far removed," Sirius said smoothly. Lies and truths, so close at times. Clan, hmmmm.

"Besides, mebbe he'll help with getting' this stuff, if we cut him in on the take. He knows the houses better than us, and has that 'in' at the shrine,' Jillas added conspiratorially. 

Gravos nodded.

"Right then, we got addresses and looked over the places for two of the things you want, but that other at the shrine will be a real bitch to get a hold of…and as for the other two, well, I haven't got no clues!" Jillas told his new 'employer'.

"I do. Concern yourselves with the first two exclusively," Sirius commanded.

"Ah, one more thing…Yer not from around here, are ya? I thought so! Ya talk funny," Jillas grinned with pride.

"I am from…Europe."

~*~

Xelloss was already at the scene when Gourry and Val walked over.

"Hey!"

"Hey."

"Whoa…not much left…" Val said.

"No. Zel's car and Zelas'…pointedly taken out…my place…gone. The garden's still there but the firefighters and hoses and equipment pretty much did a job on the plants, though the ash is good for the root crops…" Xelloss rambled on, mostly to himself. 

The fire inspector and a team of insurance-claims-examiners were deep in discussion with Detective McGywn. They were all in agreement; it was not an accident.

"I smell a sophisticated fire-starter used over there by the car remnants and near the…practice room. Syndicate calling cards," Xelloss mentioned in passing to the detective. "I must have REALLY pissed someone off."

"No kiddin'?" Val mused nearby. "Knock off three top posts, two really, but Gaav counted someplace to somebody, I figure, and this is what it gets yer."

Xelloss smiled slightly and stepped carefully around the crumbling, charred remains of the house he'd come to call home. Nothing left. What should he do now?

"Ah, here comes Zel," Gourry said. Shading his eyes from the sun, he could just barely make out the familiar figure hopping off at the bus stop a few blocks down. "Funny, I thought Amelia'd be givin' him a ride."

Running the rest of the way, Zel soon joined the other co-dis-inhabitants of the destroyed house. "Yeah? Any news?"

"Gourry came up with a good idea," Val started. "He's about done with Lina's place, then he was plannin' on starting mine. We could help him evenings an' get us a place to live in before school starts."

Zel looked to Xelloss for his take first.

"This place is…totaled and before rebuilding, we need to talk and think about what it is we want to replace it with. Don't leave it all up to me, but Val's place sounds great. I for one can't stay where I am much longer."

"Why's that, lover-boy?" Val smirked, teasing Xelloss for a change.

Xelloss actually blanched and dropped his jaw wordlessly.

"Heh, heh… See, what did I tell ya, Gourry? He's yer ticket outta those Sylphiel-blues. Mebbe ya outta stretch out that re-mod-o-ling timetable some more just ta be sure she's got plenty of time to sink in her hooks a little deeper, huh?" Val chuckled.

Surprisingly, Xelloss said nothing. Zel shook his head, "You can be in control, you know. You've only been there one night and already, what?"

"Nothing! We just had a picnic lunch together!" Xelloss said defensively. "But…it is DEFINITELY too close for comfort!"

"He means that she's more ag-gres-sive than him," Val smirked.

"S…She's…" Xelloss stuttered out in defense again, then broke down. "…Persistent, you're right. And I'm… not really ready… I'm…"

"Shakin'. Hey, sit down before ya fall down," Gourry said sensitively, helping the obviously disturbed kid onto the grass.

"Hey, sorry, man…I didn't mean nothin' by all that…" Val said gently.

Xelloss looked as if he were about to cry, when he drew a deep breath and met Zel's worried gaze, "I…I'm so sorry about your car, little brother… and your stuff…both of you…I'll cover whatever the insurance won't, I promise…"

"Forget that! It's not as if you did all this," Zel admonished him. His friend's displays of what he considered un-masculine emotional behavior embarrassed him. Zel turned his back on him and walked off a short distance.

"Oh… Now there's where you're wrong. I brought this on! I got something in the mail and ignored it…" Xelloss dug into his pants pocket and withdrew a ring, a signet ring with syndicate markings. "They did this because I didn't…answer. So, in fact, it is my fault!"

"What? I thought you said that last 'task' was IT? End of contract, end of servitude, end of your connection!" Zelgadiss barked as he spun around and grabbed at Xelloss's sleeve. "How long have you been hiding that thing?"

"Since my mother's funeral. I guess I was in error!" Xelloss said loftily.

"ERROR? Why didn't you TELL me… or McGywn? Bastard! You just…hide that thing in a pocket and think the problem will go away? Now I haven't got my car or clothes or computer or MY DRAWINGS! I can't believe this! You're not a moron, so you had to have 'erred' on purpose. So, tell me, FRIEND, what's so damned important that it's worth… ALL this? WHAT? Tell me, damnit! TELL ME! And don't you DARE wrap it in another lie!" Zelgadiss was flushed and shaking with barely leashed anger. One hand was twisted in the fabric of his friend's sleeve, while the other was clenched in a tight fist.

"I'm sorry…but…it's a secret," Xelloss whispered and turned his face away.

Thwack! THUD! 

Zel lit into the other guy with a repressed fury the others had not seen before. Frustrated by his inability to open up and speak candidly to Amelia earlier and that ensuing confrontation combined with his personal losses and physical exhaustion, the shock and horror of the situation crushed Zel's self-control. 

Laden with countless layers of guilt, exhaustion both mental and physical, and a deep-seated sorrow, Xelloss put up weak defenses to fend off his friend's attack.

It became bloody and awful and took both Val and Gourry to separate the two boys. Gourry finally extracted Zel and sat on him to keep him still while Val dragged the unconscious Xelloss—for Xelloss had passed out at the first sight of his own blood—to his car and hefted him onto a bench seat.

"This is so shit-ass stupid! We got enough problems without you two at each others throats!" Val snapped.

"I'll get off, when ya promise to leave off hittin' the guy. He's blacked out, Zel," Gourry said exerting all the control he could muster and speaking calmly. "I won't let ya keep hitt'in a guy once he's down—like ya did! That's dishonorable, Zel."

"Oh…" Zel moaned and lay still. "I'll kill him, if they don't get him first."

McGywn ambled over, "I dunna think so, son. Where ye stayin'?"

"Amelia's," Gourry supplied for Zel. "But, if ya gotta cell ta lock him up in, it would serve him right."

"I'll take him back to my place. Zangulus is there now and they can talk music and stay outta trouble," McGywn lead Zel away, dialing the mayor's house and leaving a message. "You. Ye kin stay in the patrol car a bit while I see that yer brother's taken care of. Do I need to lock ye in? Good."

"I called Adams, just ta be safe," Val explained to the detective. "Bloody nose…I don't think Zel connected much, but I ain't the doctor."

"Good. I'll send the insurance fellows home. They're about done. Xelloss was right, it was a syndicate job, all right," McGywn said.

"He's gonna want ta leave Seyruun," Val said looking at the silent kid lying still in his car. "Anywhere he goes, they'll follow him. He's a danger to this place, and he knows it. Mebbe I'll invite him along when I go with Milgasia to the ancient clan lands."

"Might be a good idea. It would be hard for them to find ye out there. Let me know what ye decide, a'right? Ah, here's the Doc now. That was quick. He musta been leaving the hospital…"

Xelloss woke up a few minutes later and assured everyone that he was fine, no head injuries to worry about. Adams stopped the nosebleed and bandaged the cuts. "Where are you staying? The Shrine? I'll call Nels Lahda then and see who can stay with you tonight, just in case…"

"Miroku. He's on call, but… he'd be fine…" Xelloss suggested as he closed his eyes.

"Come on, I'll be going back to the hospital and pass the shrine so I can give you a lift," offered Adams. "Val? You staying out at the settlement?"

"Gourry's. I haven't had the chance to drive back. We were supposed to stop by Lina's, Filia's there… I'd take her back too."

"I'd rather all ye kids stay put today and tonight. I dunna think they'll be attacking here agin so soon. Be safer than the roads. My boys'll be on full alert. We'll find the devils, if they're still in town," McGywn assured them.

The group agreed to the plan and parted, each car to it's own destination.

"All righty," the detective began as he pulled away from the curb. "What's goin' on ta set ye off like that?"

Dark as midnight, Zel raised his head. "He was contacted by someone in the syndicate after Zelas' funeral. Something's up and he didn't tell us. He's in danger… we all are AGAIN, and he knew…but didn't tell me…him and his damned secrets…"

"Who do ye think it was?"

But Zelgadiss said nothing. He shook his head and leaned back. 

"Val thinks he'll invite him along on his trip," McGywn said hoping to get a meaningful response out of the angry kid.

"We have more gigs to do first, then… I couldn't care less what happens to him…"

"Hmm, I see," muttered McGywn and continued the drive to his house in silence. Disinterest--that was one thing he didn't believe Zelgadiss felt toward his friend!

~*~

A dark car purred up a few houses down from the blackened foundation of Xelloss' house as the last of the patrol cars pulled away. "Well, he doesn't live THERE anymore."

"No," Sirius agreed with his brother. "Those shiver young goons mentioned that the boy we are looking for was 'clan'. The nearest clan settlement is one called the Cephied Believers. I think Almayce should know this immediately. Our trail grows cold here."

"Yeah, let's focus on tracing those relics," the cruel-eyed man sneered through clenched teeth.

~*~

"I'll take yuh over to my disaster area, 'kay?" Val said to Gourry as they cruised past the corner market on their way to Val's home when he'd lived with Gaav. "I haven't checked it in a while and what I planned ta do to it before… has changed some."

"Maybe."

"Maybe, what? Ya don't wanna go over or you thinkin' 'bout the changes?" Val wondered as he turned onto the main road over to his previous residence, the GAAV House.

"Hard to say if all three of ya are gonna get back under one roof. I've never seen Zel go nuts like that. He didn't even give Xelloss a chance to say nothin'. My guess is, Zel will go his own way…or move back with his dad," Gourry said.

"Yeah, who knows? So much fer that perfect couple award, huh?" Val smirked.

"Heh, guess I gotta cancel that banquet and everything," Gourry joked.

They walked around, circling the exterior. "I got the paper work ta go sign, then we can start rippin' off the boards. It's big inside, fer a single story with three bedrooms and a couple baths. I figure ta knock out the walls, makin' them equal size-like, add a bathroom…new stuff for the other bathrooms and kitchen…dis-sin-fect the whole place, if ya get my meanin'."

Gourry did. The repair work at Lina's was one thing, but fixing the house of a low-level, ex-drug lord and crime boss…one that had been used as a flop-house and gods-only-knows for years…Gourry knew it would have to begin with a dangerous-chemical cleaning crew and include lots of new plumbing. His musings were interrupted by Val.

"Yo, look over here at this…Someone's been nosin' around here, loosin' the boards over this window, mashin' the bushes…"

"The sooner we get started, the better then. Probably bums lookin' for a place ta sleep. Dad and I have had a few buildings where we've had to chase off druggies," Gourry said.

"Yeah? Hope that's all. I'm startin' ta get par-a-noid, man!" Val muttered, his voice tightening to reveal his apprehensions.

~*~

"THEY GOT IN A FIGHT!" Sylphiel cried over the phone to Amelia. "A-and Xelly's face is bruised and…and…it's AWFUL!"

"Oh, Sylphiel!" Amelia broke into tears, unable to say more.

"He's lying down in his room and won't talk about it AT ALL! That nice Dr. Adams dropped him off and told me to keep him quiet and watch out in case…in c-case… Ohhhhhhhhhhh…" she wailed.

"I'm calling Miss Lina," Amelia said with determination. "Mr. Zelgadiss has gone too far this time! Hurting Mr. Xelloss, his best friend! And, did I tell you? No, I couldn't have… We just had a fight, a yelling one. He told Chiriko things, private things about me so that now he thinks I'm… promiscuous! That's right, ME! And when I asked him why… he said he didn't KNOW why. Now Chiriko won't talk to me!"

"Oh, Amelia, how awful! I wondered why Chiriko chose to go on those rides with Xelloss, instead of you. Why don't you come over…invite Lina and Filia too, if you want and we'll talk about it? I can't leave in case, you know, he…NEEDS me. Oh, yeah, and I got you something at the fair. Uh, huh! Filia and I visited the booths and she got some really cute earrings and something for her hair. Okay, call me back if you can't come, okay? Bye then!"

"What are you blabbering about, Amelia? Slow down!" Lina said irritated by the interruption. "Can't this wait? Filia and I were gonna try and round everyone up to go out to dinner or something. What? So WHAT! There's been dozens of times when I've wanted to punch his idiotic smile away…Filia too! So what if Zel finally let off a little steam? The doc dropped him off? That sounds more serious then… Where's Zel? Oh… all right, we'll be there in 15. Yeah, bye." 

Lina hung up the phone with a crash. "Come on, Filia. There's some kind of trouble in Slayersville. We're goin' over to Sylphiel's! Do you know where Val is? Well, I'll try Gourry's cellphone on the way…Hold it. Gourry? Lina here, say can you give me a lift over to Sylphiel's?"

"Uh, hi Lina," Gourry said mystified by her voice. She'd never called him before like that, just out of the blue. "Sure. I'm at Val's old place lookin' it over. Yeah, he's here with me. Okay, we'll be by in a few minutes, but…Lina? There was a little trouble today… Oh, you've heard already? Oh, Sylphiel, huh?"

"Yeah, she was all hysterical so Amelia want's us to go over and try and help. You were there?! So, was it serious? Yeah? Where's Zel now? He drove off in a POLICE car?!!! Was he arrested or something!?! You don't THINK so?!!! Gourry you idiot! Didn't you ask? You HOPE he was?! AAAAHHhh! We have gigs startin' up this Friday again! Was Zel's hand okay? FOR PLAYING GUITAR! AAAAAAAH! Okay, okay…I'll call McGrath or McQuinn or…who? McGywn, right. Hurry up!"

"Gods! Do I have to EVERYTHING myself? HELLO? Yeah, I'm looking for that policeman…McGywn…yeah…Detective, huh? Yeah, that's cool, I'll hang…Yeah, hi, this is Lina Inverse calling ya. You arrest my buddy Zelgadiss? NO? Great. So, where is he? I see. So I can't talk to him right now, huh? Okay, than…can ya tell me…his hands weren't broken or nothin', were they? sigh Oh yeah, everything he owns and his dog are at Amelia's. Okay, just thought I'd let you know. Thanks. Tell 'im…Lina called, if ya remember, okay? Thanks again."

"Yeah he's all right," Lina said to Filia. "He's under lock and key at Detective McGywn's place for the time being. 'To cool off', I believe he said. He better hope Xelloss is okay, too! I tell ya, they're just like little boys sometimes! Only thinkin' about themselves! What about me?! I gotta hold this band together and look what I have to work with!"

Before Filia could say anything, Val drove up, parked and Gourry hopped out and opened a door for the girls. 

"Well, at LEAST I can depend on you!" she snarled at Gourry. "Have I entered Bizarro World or something? Zel's taken away by the police to live with Zangulus…Val owns a Suburban AND a country club… Xelloss has nothing and lives in a shrine… and… I own a house with a brand new roof!"

"You're welcome," Gourry smiled.

"Oh, yeah, at least you haven't changed. Thank the gods I've got you!"

Gourry beamed a sunny smile her way, "Oh. For. Joy!"

~*~

By Friday, little had changed, or a lot, depending on your perspective. 

Zelgadiss was travelling with Zangulus in Zangy's car-- with Martina to boot-- to their next string of gigs. He'd even been so considerate as to clear it with Lina first. As Lina put it, "As long as I don't have to ride in that car, fine. He gonna play sax? She gonna sing my song? She'd better or she can't come. Oh, they gotta get their own rooms, too!"

Xelloss chose to sit beside Chiriko in order to set him straight about dear, sweet Amelia. He filled him in on all Amelia's perfections: her code of righteousness, her modest ways, and especially her high principles, personal standards and faultless morals. Chiriko was pleased, and at the next stop, he sought her out to apologize for jumping to the wrong conclusions based on unconfirmed reports. Amelia held Xelloss in high regard after that, deciding that he deserved true love and happiness in his life as well.

Filia nabbed the seat beside Val, who drove his own vehicle as usual. "It's really very funny thinking about it…" she began.

"What?" Val wondered.

"This time last year, can you imagine what you'd have said if someone had told you that you'd be remodeling that old place so that you and Xelloss, and maybe Zel, would live there? That you'd own this car?"

"And have someone like you sitting next to me?" Val smiled wistfully. "I woulda had a good laugh or punched that someone fer yankin' my chain. No, this last year has been…unbelievable. How about you? You gotta little bro?"

"This time last year part of the settlement was moving to where it is now, and I thought that was the whole world. I feel like I've lived out a couple lives since then. What an incredible year!" she sat thoughtfully staring out the window. "I'm going to miss all this…"

"What do yer mean?"

"These road trips…Then Sylphiel is leaving to visit Japan…And you're leaving soon, right? I'll miss you, you know," Filia said, not meeting his eyes.

That made him stop breathing a moment. Lately, she'd hardly given him the time of day. He was sure that she'd lost interest in him. He'd just been a novelty to her, the dangerous punk, the baddest of the bad boys. Had he understood her correctly just now?

"Miss me, huh? How so?" He figured that he had nothing to lose by asking.

"Why…who will I talk to out at the settlement?"

"You've got that pretty cousin to entertain," he answered with some trepidation. Might as well throw that one out and see what she says.

"Julian? Well yes… that's true. So, will you and Milgasia drive all the way or fly?" she said airily, way too lightly for Val's taste.

That hadn't gone quite as well as he'd hoped. "Ah, I don't know. I'm leavin' it up to him, but I've asked Xelloss to come along too."

"Xelloss! My God, Val, you can't be serious! You know how much he bugs you?"

"Yeah, well, we share some ugly past history and he needs a change of scenery while the house is getting fixed up. And I think him and Zel want some space, if ya know what I mean."

"Hey! How about puttin' in a CD up there!" Tasuki shouted from the middle seat.

"Something I can really sing to!" Nuriko joined in. "And stop kicking me!" He sniffed, more offended than angry, knocking Tasuki's offending foot to the floor. "Cross it over the other way or just leave them on the floor, or wash them more often!"

"I have just the one!" Xelloss piped in, from the back-most seat beside Chiriko. "Here, shove it in!"

The Best of Queen filled the van, the 'friendly' van.

Gourry drove Amelia's van with Lina at the helm beside him. Amelia and Miaka chattered ceaselessly like best of friends, mostly about their different friends. Sylphiel felt lucky to sit beside the charming, though odd Chichiri. 

"So, Nuriko tells me that Xelloss is living with you at the shrine. Sounds interesting, no da!"

Sigh… "It MIGHT be if he wasn't always so busy with his duties. Also, I can't enter the men's dormitories without my father's consent, and HE doesn't think that should happen very often. I DO get to see him for dinner each night! He just LOVES my cooking. I only fix a few things, my mother does most of the work, but I like to add my special touch whenever I can. And Xelloss loves desserts. Especially ice cream. I've tried making my own ice cream. We even bought an electric ice cream maker, you know? It's, like, really easy to do, too. First, you need the freshest cream…"

Chichiri didn't mind. He dozed off in no time, no da!

It was a happy, comfortable van.

Hotohori, Tamahome, Mitsukage, and Yui followed behind in a world of their own…

~*~

The Clan Elder, the leader of all the Cephied Believer Clans, met with the stranger. "I understand. I shall keep the secret of the relics and preserve the secret of the Ancients. However, there is one who you will need to lure to your cause who holds the power of the ancients and of the syndicate, but knows not how to wield it. His name is Val Gaav, and you will do well to bring him into your confidence as soon as possible. With my help and his, your cause has hope for success, I am certain."

Almayce bowed and thanked the man as he took his leave. "What an old blowhard he is! I can't wait to get this over with and go home," he muttered to himself. "These Cephied people are such bores!" He slipped into the backseat of the cream-colored limousine with a loud sigh.

"Sir? Would you like to return to the Grand Hotel Seyruun?" asked the chauffeur.

"Yes, that's EXACTLY what I'd LIKE to do, but I'd best get this over with quickly. According to my latest information, the next fellow I need to speak to can be found out at the Cephied Clan Settlement. You wouldn't know how to find that place, would you?"

"No problem, Sir. I can get you there in less than an hour. Help yourself to a drink and there are several movies available for your enjoyment…"

"You're a capable man surrounded by incompetents. What is your name?"

"Mine? Vurumagen. And really, with all do respect, Sir, people like me are a dime a dozen."

"Hmm, more like one in a million, I'd say. Just wake me up when we get there," Almayce sighed.

~*~

"You know, a person could get tired of eating out," Xelloss opened the topic of discourse over a late lunch.

"Not ME!" Miaka squealed. "I need FOOD, and lots of it! And I'm too busy to cook. Eating out is the BEST!"

"I disagree. A healthy diet includes many foods, and a great deal better ones than we've been eating lately. The fair in particular. I miss…" Xelloss nearly said Zelgadiss' cooking, but when he looked to the side and saw Zel's hard, blue stare avert immediately, he paused a moment to consider his next words. "Not to say anything is amiss with your mother's cooking, Sylphiel, but I miss helping out in the kitchen with Zelgadiss. He was teaching me to cook and I found it enjoyable. That's why I had the garden put in, for fresher ingredients. But, I guess that's all over now."

There was a painful longing in his voice. No one knew if he was referring to the garden and kitchen gone, burned to the ground, damaged beyond repair, or if he meant that his happier times cooking alongside his best friend were over. He sat in silence eating little for the remainder of the meal.

Zelgadiss had overheard. With his acute hearing, he heard far more that was being said about him than he wanted to hear, and it hurt inside. He missed those times as well, with the easy camaraderie and intelligent conversations. Didn't Xelloss think he wanted those good times back too? This was the longest estrangement the two friends had had, or at least the most serious. And Beast had been moved to live with his father because Zangulus was 'allergic' to dogs, causing Zel's grief and loss to be even more pronounced than before. It really HURT; he hurt with loneliness and pride.

Oh, yes… Zel had oodles of male pride which prohibited him from approaching his friend or even looking at him. Xelloss had essentially betrayed them, keeping some SECRET, and now he and Val had lost their house and security and lots of good things. Had they been home, they would have died as well! If all those 'good times together' meant so much to him, WHY had Xelloss risked it? Why had Xelloss risked so much unnecessarily? AND he'd promised it would be over with, after the nursing home 'task'! He'd promised him, at the same time he'd known that it wasn't true. He'd had that ring and knew. He KNEW and LIED…to him!

"You LIAR!" Zel roared, jumping up from his seat, storming over to Xelloss' chair and whipping him around to face his wrath, "That's all you are, one big lie! You can't possibly have any feelings! You just know how to give lip-service to them like…a talented actor. I don't want to hear ANY MORE drivel from you. DO YOU HEAR ME?! You have screwed up my life from the moment we met and now there's just nothing left of it. I'm back to square one, even less! With everything I own in a couple boxes. After these jobs-- which I'm doing for Lina's sake and NO ONE ELSE'S-- don't call me, don't look for me, don't contact me in any way for any reason! I hate you, Xelloss Metallium, for everything you have done to my life, and I hope you die, just like that slut of a mother you had, by the hand of the syndicate whom you love far more than ANY of us!" Zel spat the last words inches from his face, then pushed them apart and fled the restaurant.

"Leave him be," Gourry said, placing a hand on Lina's arm to stop her from flying after Zelgadiss.

"Think you'll be able to hold your moody band together a few more days?" Hotohori asked arrogantly.

His coldness stunned everyone within hearing distance, including the fan-girl Yui. She was in fact so appalled at his insensitivity, that it was she who first reached out to the pale and plainly aggrieved Xelloss. "Come with me. We'll get some fresh air." 

Outside, she continued to do all the talking, while he listened, still dumbfounded by Zel's harsh words. "I've had my best friend turn on me too, once…It was the worst time of my life! But eventually we forgave one another and now… Miaka and I are back, like nothing had ever happened! Well, mostly…"

~*~

"Mr. Almayce," the tall handsome man with the flowing blonde mane began, "I received a fax from the clan elder a few minutes before you called. He wants us to provide you with support and assistance, if possible. So, with that in mind, please tell me now, what's going on!"

"Milgasia… tell me first, what you know about the extinction of the Ancient Clan."

"To answer that, let me give you a little background. Ah, I don't know what organization you are with, but here we were once all Cephied Believers. When the schism occurred, it left the conservative branch, the Ancients, and the new-age branch, referred to as the Goldens. For years there was ill will, but healing was needed, so the leadership agreed to a yearly clan reunion. It was more often a ten year or five year meeting, what with all the work it involved and the numbers of people to move. The meetings also rotated the hosting job from one clan to another; that is, until a deadly plane accident resulted in the deaths of all the remaining members of the Ancient Clan."

"That all happened soon after I agreed to lead this particular faction of the Cephied clan. I had been with another clan far to the south, an assistant, when the call came for me to fill an opening here. Well, not HERE in this location since this group only recently moved to this settlement. My point being… I was busy with my own problems and although I was deeply saddened by the events which took place, and attempted to participate in the ensuing investigation, I hadn't given the Ancients a thought until this past year," Milgasia paused to listen to the other man's word.

"Hmmm?" he asked. Listening again, Milgasia answered somewhat evasively, "The Clan Elders handled all the investigations into the airplane accident. This past year? Nothing to concern you, a personal problem and details of interest only to the local clan. Now, what has this all to do with the Ancient Clan?"

"They took something of ours, several valuable relics. We want them back. In their entirety, the relics are…most important. I was hoping to meet with the Ancient Clan leadership, which I understand is impossible, but there is one last survivor?"

"There might be," Milgasia said cautiously. "Proof is impossible. The person of interest knows nothing of his heritage and will be unable to assist you in any way."

"He. He may have one of the relics and not even be aware of it."

"I still don't know what are you looking for or what group you represent," Milgasia noted his suspicions rising.

"I am…from Europe. Your Clan Elder felt that you need not know more than that. As far as the relics are concerned… there are five: two swords, one axe, one staff, and a bow, as in bow and arrows. Quite old, but remarkable only for their markings and insignia, clan marks. You know of what I speak."

Milgasia shrugged, unwilling to say more. Oh, he knew three of those items. He'd seen most of them in the hands of a group of remarkable kids, and he was not going to entrust this man with there secret locations. Clan Elder be damned! "I am planning to accompany the young man of Ancient ancestry to the Ancient clan lands. If you'd like, I'll assist you in a search of the area. For the rest, I'm afraid that I am of little use to you in your search."

Almayce nodded. Now he was getting somewhere at last! "When will you be leaving?"

"Soon. Where can you be reached?"

"Here is my private number. I must press upon you that time…is crucial."

Milgasia nodded as he took the small card and set it on the table. Standing up, he held out a hand, indicating that it was time for his guest to leave. "I understand," he said, but thought, "Crucial to you…but not to me…"

*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Four. ~*~


	5. Chapter 5

The Slayers: Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel

.

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Five

To say Zelgadiss felt bad about his outburst would be an understatement. He stretched out in the backseat of the car deep in gloomy Zel-land, while Martina and Zangulus chatted away in the front seat. He was miserable, made more so by everyone else's silence around him. If Lina had screamed at him or tried to pound him senseless, he'd have felt accepted, but now he truly felt like an outsider—even though he WAS right and Xelloss WAS wrong!

Xelloss sat in the Suzaku Seven van alongside Yui. They were not close friends, more mutually sufferable, enough so that his silent barrier to all attempts to converse did not hamper her running monologue.

The Slayers spirits were dampened by Zel, Xelloss, the burned house/practice room, and…Val and Gourry told the others about the ring, warnings, strangers and worries. As the vans pulled up to their hotel for the weekend, Lina made a decision, "We have GOT to break this mood thing before we go on tonight. Starting with the god of gloom himself… Hey, Martina! Where'd Zel run off to?"

Lina found Xelloss first, languishing in the room he would be sharing with Val, Gourry and whichever SS lost the coin-toss, she guessed. "Hey!" she greeted him as she nudged the door open.

…

"Okay… I know he didn't mean all that."

…

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to him, you know? He knows that. He wouldn't have had the guts to blow up at anyone else. He knows you'll forgive him… You will, won't you? If he asks?" Lina asked the silent boy.

"He won't. I lied to him. I don't…deserve friends…" Xelloss muttered dramatically into a pillow.

"Oh. I'm gonna get a snack, wanna come? No? How about a dance?"

He lifted his head enough to turn his head in Lina's direction, "That's not funny. Why don't you kick me…while I'm down… while you're at it? Don't bother answering, just …go…"

Well, she had him responding. That was an improvement!

"I won't," she declared. "Because it's only fun when you're in the mood to kick back," a smile. "You've made me listen to stuff I didn't wanna hear…made me squirm, so this is your turn. Zel's a hardheaded idiot when it comes to other people. If you do something sub-Zel-standard, he gets downright insulting. He sets a code of right and wrong for everyone and expects us all to follow it, and when we don't... WHAP! Comes his reminder. Now, I don't know where this new 'violent' Zel's come from, I don't like it, at all! That's MY shtick! He's also slipped up himself and done something he's regretting, I'm sure, to Amelia. Oh, you know about that? He's all messed up then, but he's getting tortured back. He's being ignored. Yeah, even Gourry's given' him the cold shoulder and not takin' his side. He can't take out his frustrations on his friends without some aftereffects, right? Xelloss? Ah, we do ALL care about how you feel, ya know."

She patted him on the back, letting him know that she meant what she said. "Um, when you're ready, I wanna know what goes on in your head."

Xelloss opened his eyes and for a second, purple met red. "No. You. Don't."

Lina nodded and left a moment later, muttering under her breath, "Okay, Zel-meister, you broke him, YOU fix him!"

She ran into Zel unpacking his acoustic guitar and testing the strings with his fingers STRUM… strum… strum….

Lina slapped him. Hard. "I would have punched you, but I wouldn't want to give you head-trauma," she told him, kindly. 

He looked up, shocked and horrified. "Lina? You too?"

"'Me, too' what? Oh, I get it, I'm turning on you now, am I? Well, Zel, if that's what you want to think, you can do it. But you'd be fooling yourself. No matter how much you want to boil away in your stupid angsty guilt, you'll always know that it's wrong. You know @#$%ing well that we all care about you, and that 'we all' includes Xelloss. I just wanted you to remember what it feels like to be hit by your friend. I'll do it again, probably: it was pretty fun, I have to say! But now I'm going to apologize, okay? I shouldn't have done that. I was being childish to just take out my anger on you. But you know, it felt pretty good, didn't it?" she smiled.

Zel looked angrily up through his eyebrows at her grinning face. "What are you getting at?"

"Oh, nothing. 'Cept that I understand what's going down in your brain. And I'm not about to let you get away with thinking you're the first one to feel the way you do. Now, you two had better make up before the next concert or—"

"Don't threaten me, Lina. I won't do it if you expect me too."

"Oh, I know that, too. But I just can't let you get away without a little 'Lina Inspiration,' you know…"

"Go away, Lina."

Of course, she slapped him again, and left without a word, though a few peals of laughter. 

Zelgadiss pushed open the unlocked door with the end of his guitar. Settling on the edge of the bed beside his silent friend, he proceeded to pluck a simple tune, then a cord or two, then he set up a rhythm. 

Zel began to sing softly, "This is one from the 60's and, ah, it's meant to be sung to a girl, so bear with me here…

'Try and see it my way, 

Do I have to keep on talking till I can't go on?

While you see it your way, 

We run a risk of knowing that our love may soon be gone.

We can work it out; we can work it out.

Think of what you're saying, 

You can get it wrong and still you think that it's all right.

Think of what I'm saying, 

We can work it out and get it straight or say goodnight.

We can work it out; we can work it out.

Life is very short,

And there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend.

I have always thought,

That it's a crime so I will ask you once again.

Try to see it my way, 

Only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong.

While you see it your way,

There's a chance that we might fall apart before too long.

We can work it out; we can work it out.' "

Xelloss smiled. He knew Zelgadiss was trying to apologize, unable to say with words what he was trying to transmit with music. When the tuned faded, Xelloss was first to speak, "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry I kept a secret from you and lost your trust again. I'd worked so hard to deserve it, you know? Of all the things I've lost, Zelgadiss, the worst loss…the most important thing to me was your trust and friendship. Sometimes, that was all I had to live for…my friends, and most of all you, little brother."

Zel caught his friend's eyes and held them in his intent gaze. "And yet... it's worth it? That damned secret is worth it all?"

"Yes…" Xelloss shifted uncomfortably, then cleared his throat. "If I told you that knowing the secret might certainly get you killed…all of our friends as well if they knew…would you STILL want me to tell you? I refused to answer an official summons and… they destroyed our home! That was a warning! Can you understand? There is no getting out of this or running away for me. All I can do is try… TRY to find a solution, a final solution. In the meantime, I will go with Val and put some distance between myself and the rest of you."

"Won't that put him in danger too?"

"Yeah, but he's a part…that is, he's familiar with the territory," Xelloss said evasively and looked away.

"Tell me. I will not tell the others."

"You don't know your limits under torture, Zelgadiss! You saw what was done to me, and I was on their side! If you tell, then YOU become responsible for the deaths of all your friends, and me as well. Do YOU want that?"

"NO! Of course not, but I will NOT tell. Trust me, Xelloss. Share that burden with me and I will be able to help you."

Xelloss covered his tormented face with a hand and whispered, "Forgive me…"

Zel thought that meant he'd say no more and started to get up to leave when Xelloss grabbed his shoulder and whispered a single word into his alien ear, a whisper so soft that only Zel could have heard it. Zelgadiss was frozen to the core in an instant.

"No…" Zel gasped, his eyes widened in horror.

Xelloss nodded mutely.

Zelgadiss slid off the bed onto the floor, "Oh gods…How's that possible? I'm so sorry, Xelloss… Do you know yet what you have to do?"

"No. And I won't tell you when I do, you understand? Something's up and you and I, Filia and Val, Sylphiel, Amelia and Lina and Gourry… we may all be thrown together in some mess and not together! Fighting each other for unknown causes!" Xelloss was choked with tears now, but would not let Zel see him cry.

"No we won't, Xelloss. No matter what, we'll all be on the same side just like before. You and I can promise one another that much, can't we? No matter what, regardless of how we might make it look at the time, the Slayers will be a team in the end. Agreed?" 

Xelloss didn't say anything for some time, then stifling a flow of tears, he nodded and said, "Okay dokay, but only you and I will be fully cognizant of that fact. I may have to be deceptive and…" 

"Annoying and…" Zelgadiss supplied with a smirk.

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'ersatz', and substituting my normally cheerful…"

"Fruity and annoying…"

"PERSONA," Xelloss said loudly enough to drown out Zel's interruptions. "With that of a sophisticated and suave…"

"Jerk?" Zel smirked as he eluded a warning but gentle punch to the arm.

"Shit, Zel! You are really asking for… What? What's that look for?" Xelloss asked as he held back in his playful attack.

"You just called me 'Zel'! Ha! You slipped up! Ha!" Zel chuckled as he ducked another swipe.

"No I didn't! I called you Zelgadiss and YOU didn't hear right!"

"Yes I did! I did, I did, I did. I hear VERY well, and you slipped up!" Zel laughed.

"No I DIDN'T! Take it back!" Xelloss yelled while barely containing his own chuckling.

Gourry, meanwhile, had been sent by his Lina to find both guys, but when he stood outside the door to Xelloss' room and listened a moment, he feared the worst. 

"Stop it!" Gourry roared as he pushed in the door and jumped between the two other guys.

CRUNCH! TWANG! TWANG! 

Zelgadiss' poor acoustic guitar splintered beneath one of Gourry's size 14 shoes.

"Oh my… I do hope we have time to go buy ZelGADISS a replacement before ShowTime," Xelloss smiled, thankful that it hadn't been HIS stray foot. "Next time, ZelGADISS, remember not to leave your toys on the floor where they might get…oof! " 

Zel connected not-so-gently with Xelloss' stomach.

"Oh, Zel… sorry, man… I just didn't see it…I heard ya…I thought you were fightin' and Lina said it's time for a sound test…"

"It's all right, Gourry. Tell Val to do the tests without us. I'll borrow Zangulus' car and find a music store in town. Xelloss? Start with the yellow pages…"

"Already on it…here we go… Big Music Store…" Xelloss smiled and began dialing for directions.

…

"They went WHERE? A MUSIC STORE?" Lina yelled when Gourry gave her the news.

"They're not fightin' or nothin' though…" he added meekly.

"Well that's one thing in our favor. Martina! Let's get you to do your song with Gourry and Val a bit just for practice. Tamahome? Yeah, you guys can go ahead and run your tests first. We got other fish ta fry," Lina shook her head. "And I'll have BOTH your idiot heads on a platter…or better yet sashimi-style if you don't get back in time…" she murmured to herself (since Zel and Xelloss, her subject fish, were far away out of earshot). 

…

"Excuse me?" Hotohori sidled up to Lina and gave her THE LOOK, then said arrogantly, "You ARE going to be able to perform in five minutes… you and your band?"

"Yeah, 'course we will," she growled in return while contemplating sliced and diced, skewered and bar-be-qued Zel-Xel-Zel-Xel-a-ma-bob…

"Ah, Lina? Maybe we should begin with Val and Filia's song. It's good even without drums and all," Gourry suggested. He was getting worried and knew Lina was just trying to cover up her concerns with hostility.

And Lina knew that Gourry knew what was going on in her head, and that both helped her and bothered her. She liked sharing some of the burden pertaining to holding together the band, on the other hand, it troubled her to think about how close she'd let him become. Somehow, she'd let Gourry insinuate himself into her life. Why, just the other day she'd called him up just to talk about…stuff! It wasn't until he'd asked her where she was that she'd realized that she was in bed, talking in such an intimate setting with…GOURRY! It wasn't as if they'd said anything important. In fact, that was just it! They'd simply conversed about everyday things like two friends, good friends, two good friends completely at ease with one another's company.

Lina snapped out of her daydream and noticed that Gourry was looking expectantly at her. "Yeah? What?" she asked.

"TIME TO GO ON!" shouted Filia, stomping backstage to find Lina. "Oh, there you are! Do you want me and Val to start off alone?"

"Ah…" Lina opened her mouth to answer but caught a twinkle in Gourry's eye, a shift in his countenance and hesitated.

"Um… I see 'em, here they come, and they're all dressed and ready, Lina," Gourry whispered to her, then smiled.

Lina nodded and turned to Filia, "Nope! I'm going on to introduce us and then we'll do the numbers in order as planned. Come on, Gourry, lets get this goin', okay?" 

"Sure, Lina!" he smiled and relaxed. Lina was excited and relieved and all revved up to put on another show, and everything would be all right.

"Shit, man! Stop pushing me!" Xelloss shouted at Zelgadiss.

"Then move it, already, and forget your hair! Lina's going to be mad as hell as it is!"

"Well it was YOU who had to be all choosy. First it was: 'Will it be the Martin #254 or the Martin #237?' THEN you had to get the strings changed, THEN the cable and pick-up checked, THEN the bridge had to be set up, THEN…"

Zel ignored his friend's rambling and ran on ahead, coming to a skid in front of his amplifier.

"Dude!" Val said. "'Bout TIME! I fixed up the Fender like you do an' Gourry tested it out. Whatcha got in the case? Oh, nice guitar! That musta cost a bundle!"

"Big bundle…" Zel smirked. "Best the place had. I made their day!"

CRASH! 

Xelloss knocked over his high-hat slipping into position, "Sorry!"

Lina didn't say a thing. She strutted on out to the front completely in control, "Hello everybody! We're starting off the show tonight with a tune of our own… and we are the SLAYERS!"

Midway through their act, the lights dimmed, Gourry placed a stool under a stream of pale blue light prior to Zel's appearance for his acoustic solo number. Zel cradled his new guitar lovingly as he checked the tuning one more time against Val's punched note. 

Cough… cough, cough…

Zelgadiss covered his mouth and looked up. Why was he coughing all of the sudden? A thin veil of fog floated past his view. Fog. The FOG MACHINE! Hadn't THAT been burned up in the box hidden away in the practice room? He glanced back to catch Val's reaction. A shrug. He looked off at the sides. Offstage where he saw Amelia beaming, he could barely make out her words, 'brand new…just for you…'

"OH JOY! So, she's not above applying a little evil justice…" he thought to himself. He erased the small smile that was beginning to appear on his face and prepared for his solo.

~*~

"Hey guys, ya gotta listen to this song! Here, wait, I'm passing you the headphones first, Zel," Lina said. 

The Slayers plus Miaka and Yui were seated at neighboring tables waiting for their food to arrive. One last gig, then the summer venue together would be over.

"Zel, you in particular I think can sing this one. It's from a new anime Gakkou no Kaidan—meaning, 'a school ghost story'. I just downloaded it off the Internet. It's called Sexy, Sexy…" Lina told everyone while Zel turned down the volume and nestled the headphones over his ears.

He frowned a little, then ripped off the headphones. "You must be kidding. I am NOT singing a dance tune… like that!"

"Zelly's a pru-ude, Zelly's a pru-ude," Xelloss said in his singsong voice. "Here, allow me…"

He pressed rewind, raised the volume, and then hit play. After a few seconds he started giggling, "Oh, my… These lyrics are great! 'I miss you, I miss you… I need you, I need you… Sexy, sexy… you!'

"Oh, yeah, Lina! 'Shake it!' Oh, yeah! I want this song! It's in my vocal range!" Xelloss begged.

"Yeah, fine, it's yours. We don't usually do other people's stuff, but no one knows this one yet. I got more, like… this one, but I understand one of those bands from that weird school… The Dragons of the Heaven or of the Earth, whichever, anyway… one of them does it so we shouldn't… Ah, here are some others. Take turns and lemme know what you think. Whoa, food! Here, Zel take the CD player over to your table. Go, go, go!"

Zel remained seated, but took back the CD player, as commanded. "That's XIT, the X Institute of Technology in Atlas City," Zel corrected Lina as he turned down the volume and again, listened to the CD. "What's this one?"

Lina put her ear to his, "Ah… the ending theme song to Boogiepop Phantom, Mirai Seiki Maruhi CLUB (Future Century Secret Club). Yeah, we could both do that duet-style, me doing high harmony. It's dark and depressing, just the one for you." Lina looked at her watch then up at the door. "Geesh! Miaka! Did Hotohori tell you he was taking the van somewhere else? I could have sworn he said to meet them here!" 

"Yeah, me too!" Miaka replied.

"He did. They're late," Zel said curtly.

"Hours late! We'll have to leave in a few minutes if we want to make it to the next town check in, unload our stuff, then rush to the concert hall for the last gig in time to setup and run sound tests. Unless they walk in right this minute, we're going without them," Lina said.

"Maybe they found another place to eat and went there. I'm sure they'll be at the gig. They've NEVER been late or missed one!" Miaka cried in their defense. 

"There's always a first time…" Val muttered.

"Okay, they haven't checked into the hotel… Filia's taking care of that now… Let's see…Gourry, you and the guys ought to take the van over to the hall and start setting up the equipment. I'll come over later. Amelia, you and the others follow Gourry with the costumes. Yes! I WILL come in a little bit. Ya gotta think they'll show up sometime, right? I'll just wait here a bit longer. Go on, I won't be late and I know where we're going. Zangulus! Can you drive some of us over in a bit, or do you need time to set up…no? Great, then wait here with me. Go, Gourry!" Lina shouted as she directed the flow of activities. 

Unfortunately, by the time Lina arrived at the concert hall, the Suzaku Seven had not yet arrived. But the Slayers were ready to go on…

"All right…we go on first, as usual. We're the opening act, anyway, and if we have to, we just keep going. Yeah, add stuff from our other shows, instrumentals, extra solos, whatever! We'll deal with that when the time comes, if it does…Time? Oh, shit… All right you all ready? Good, cause here we go…"

Martina sang…and sang… adding another verse that she and Lina had whipped up, turning her 3-minute piece into a 5-minute one. 

Zangulus blew his sax to save the world. He and Zel drew out his solo piece for nearly ten minutes, with Val and Gourry trading off Jazz-like riffs. 

When Val drove the band through his grunge number, Only Lonely Soldier, he got carried away, turning it into audience participation chant:

'I'm going to fight with the hypocrite.

I'm going to find out every dishonest thing.

I don't need home sweet home.

Only thing I need is to believe in myself…

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

ONLY LONELY SOLDIER! Chanted 

But I know it's never endin'…

ONLY LONELY SOLDIER! Chanted 

But I know it's misery…

ONLY LONELY SOLDIER! Chanted 

But I know it's my energy…

ONLY LONELY SOLDIER! Chanted 

Now I know it's my destiny, what I'm looking for, but I don't wanna face it anytime!'

His voice was nearly gone by the end, but the crowd was on their feet and screaming—it was worth it!

Next, Gourry was really on a roll. By the second verse, the audience was swaying to the country rhythm and holding flaming lighters overhead, joining him in the refrain:

'If you fail to chat her up,

You had better chat another girl.

Our thoughts are always changing,

Let's enjoy fleeting moments again and again… 

SO IN THE WORLD… "All together now…" Lina urged the audience to join in.

In this large wide world,

There are many encounters in this world.

How many times you lost in love?'

You never get tired of love, don't you?

Lina stepped up the pace and turned out a real aerobic workout to a hyped up version of her Exit Running song. She called it: Never, Never Give Up:

Hey hey! Never, never give up!

Everybody wake up!

Life is like a battle…It's a

Lonely way to justice!

Never, never give up!

Everybody face up!

Listen to the voice of your soul!

Filia, Amelia, and Sylphiel added a 'Hey!' shout and a workout dance-routine between refrains that got the crowd to dancing too.

The Slayers were doing well. The audience loved them, their enthusiasm, and their 'heart'. They were having a blast performing to their best abilities, when Lina caught sight of a flash of red, then blue, then… yes! The Suzaku Seven had made it for the last half of the last session. Lina danced over to each of her friends and passed on her message: "Good job. Let's finish this last song and take a break, right?"

"All right! That's it for the Slayers tonight. Give them a big hand for tonight's show! They, ah, deserve a great round of applause for holding the show together for us…We had a bit of car trouble…" Tamahome began apologetically.

Hotohori, who wanted to get the act back on track and turn out some tunes before the place closed, interrupted him, "But… We are the Suzaku Seven and we are here now and ready to sing for you…"

When the show was finally over and they were all back at the hotel, Hotohori came by personally thanking each and every one of the Slayers for their effort which certainly saved the gig from disaster. He was most humble and sincere, even to the point of kissing each of the girls' hands and bowing deeply to the young men. "We owe you a great debt of gratitude which I hope we can…"

"Yeah, yeah, give it a rest," Lina sighed. "Accidents happen. You would have done the same for us, I know. Now, I'm tired and all…yeah, I'm glad it all worked out…'night!"

Ignoring her, Amelia and Xelloss pressed for more details, "What happened to your van?" Amelia asked Chiriko.

"Oh! You MUST let ME tell you," Nuriko wailed. "It was AWFUL! We made a stop at the bank, the auto-teller machine to get some cash, but when I tried to start the engine it made this HORRIBLE sound…"

"Like dropping a bucket of nails from the roof of a house!" Chiriko added colorfully.

"Yes! The engine was running but there was no power steering…" Nuriko continued.

"Or fan or anythin', since it uses a single belt, the 'serpentine', and IT was hanging on the ground," Tasuki added with the knowledge of an expert.

"So… I called a tow truck, rode in the dirtiest seat I'd EVER been in, and waited HOURS for someone to look at the damned van. 'Course he WAS an awfully nice young man…very handsome," Nuriko chuckled while half a dozen kids rolled their eyes.

"It wasn't that bad. I had to ride smashed up against the car door with the handle burin' itself in my side!" Tasuki smirked. "So while he was ogling the mechanic at the shop, I hunted down a van to rent and unloaded AND reloaded our equipment…" Tasuki added.

"Hey, I helped do that too! And I wasn't ogling anyone!" Nuriko admonished his good friend.

"Uh, huh… Right, man. Then I drove back to the bank, picked up the other guys, who had managed to suffer with coffee and rolls from the nearby bakery!" Tasuki shot Tamahome a piercing glance.

"Hey, we woulda got you guys something if we'd known when you'd be back," he defended himself.

"Sure…" Tasuki grinned. "So we go back and get lover boy…"

"I resent that! I was just being nice! Besides, he's giving us a real deal on the price and promised to have it ready for us to drive home in the morning." Nuriko gave Tasuki a warning look, then added, "And all I had to say was 'please'. He would have done it for anyone polite enough to converse with him and…"

"And fawn over his bulging pecs…" Tasuki chuckled. He had an instant's-warning growl from Nuriko before the two came to 'friendly' blows. A little roughhousing did them all a bit of good.

Xelloss explained privately to Amelia that Nuriko was a bisexual transvestite, but didn't pick up strangers, ever. He was devoted to two people in the band, something the others were aware of, but that Tasuki loved to tease him about. 

Amelia sat listening wide-eyed at what Xelloss had to say, "He likes boys and girls?"

Xelloss nodded, "Actually, one girl and one man, and he likes to dress like a girl. Kinda odd, right? Amelia, are you okay with this? I know you're an innocent and all but I don't have to treat you like a little kid, do I?"

Flushing with embarrassment she said, "No! No, I was curious about him, but was afraid to ask and sound stupid. Thank you for telling me, Mr. Xelloss. So… you're his friend and partner at the dojo? Does any of that stuff bother you?"

"No. He was my only friend outside of the Slayers for the longest time. He never was bothered by my 'strangeness' and treated me with respect, even though he was several years older. I like him more now that we've all been hanging out together."

"Me too!" Amelia agreed. "He's funny and not so stuffy like some of the other guys. I know he must really miss you as a partner too!"

"Yeah, I'll have to go back and see what's going on some time. Hey, Zelgadiss? Bring over your new guitar. I have a tune in mind."

"Oh? What is it?" Zel asked with interest. "Hey Jude? Sure, I know that one. I was given the Beatles Fakebook with my first guitar. Let's see…You know the words? Fine, then you can sing too…

'Hey Jude, don't make it bad, 

Take a sad song and make it better.

Remember to let her into your heart, 

Then you can start to make it better.

Hey Jude, don't be afraid.

You were made to go out and get her.

The minute you let her under your skin, 

Then you begin to make it better.

And anytime you feel the pain Hey Jude refrain don't carry the world upon your shoulders.

For you know that it's a fool who plays it cool be making his world a little colder'"

… 

By the time they reached the refrain the eight Slayers, seven Suzaku singers, plus the four extra kids all joined in singing…

'Da, da, da, da,da,da, da… Hey Jude…'

Dozens of other hotel patrons and employees crowded the hallways to listen, and in a few cases sing along…

'Da, da, da, da,da,da, da… Hey Jude…'

~*~Goodbye #1

"Hey, it's been a super tour this summer, right?" Lina grinned.

Tamahome agreed and Tasuki grinned back, "Yeah, see what happens when two good-lookin' red-heads get together? They make be-uuuu-it-ful music together." He wrapped an arm around Lina's shoulder and batted his eyelashes, not unlike her own flirtatious gesture.

Lina punched him with a cackle and turned to Hotohori to say 'thanks' and 'let's do it again sometime soon.' Gourry thought he'd like to punch that Tasuki fellow too, but a bit harder than Lina had.

Amelia and Miaka were parting with tears and promises to 'get together this summer later' and continue their friendship.

"This has been a great summer tour for us," Tamahome summarized. "I think our bands mesh well and cover for one another in a pinch. I'll let you know when events come up throughout the school year that I'd think we could team up again."

Val nodded as Chichiri wished him well on his upcoming quest to the Ancient Clan lands. "I wouldn't mind going on a quest like that myself, no da!"

Nuriko told Xelloss how much he'd been missed at the dojo, "Come by and say hello after you and Val get back, okay? The Master has a proposition for you, I think, to help out with the beginning students or something non-dangerous."

"Non-dangerous? Is that possible? Tell him I'll think about it, okay?" Xelloss smiled and turned to Chiriko.

"And are you and Amelia friends again? Yes? Good, I wouldn't want a jealous friend to get in the way of a budding young romance…Jealous? Did I say that? Oh, my…Zelgadiss isn't going to like that now, is he? Let's just keep that to ourselves then, what say you, hmmm?"

"B-but… he's a really scary guy, Xelloss! What if he decides to fight with me over her? I mean, if he'd knock someone like YOU out, what do you think he might do to me if I got in his way?" the younger kid asked tremulously.

"To you? I can't imagine…" Xelloss smiled evilly.

"So, what's next for you, Sylphiel? You gonna hook up with your hottie soon?" Yui asked with a sly smile and casting a glance at Xelloss nearby. "'Cause if you're not interested…"

"You have your own hotties to look after!" Sylphiel giggled. "Keep your eyes off mine! Besides, I'm going to Japan in a few days. Yes! My mother, who's really my aunt, you know, takes me every year so I can keep in touch with my relatives there. I get to buy lots of the cutest stuff too! Lina has a huge list of anime for me to get and plushies and I always bring back more fabrics for the kimonos I make and sell each year at the Asian Festival."

"Oh, you are SOOOOOO lucky!" Yui whined.

"You bet she is!" Lina said. "And NEXT year… Xelloss and Zel are gonna splurge on graduation gifts and take us all to Japan, right guys?!"

"Ah…er…" Xelloss began. He hadn't heard this plan yet, but smiled affably and said, "Of course, Lina, whatever you want, fearless leader, …is our command."

"That's right! See? They ARE trainable!" she laughed, joined by all her friends, new and old.

~*~Goodbye #2 

"A-and I'll promise to bring you back lots of stuff and send lots of postcards too!" sniffled Sylphiel.

The airport wasn't crowded so the odd assortment of kids drew plenty of attention.

"Did you see the one with the green hair? He'd NEVER get through a metal detector!" someone muttered in passing.

"I hope that freak with the lavender hair doesn't get on MY plane. My God! His ears! Do you think he had that done on PURPOSE?!" exclaimed another.

"Him? Are you sure that's a boy and not a girl?"

"That's the tallest woman I've ever seen… Oh, my… that's a MAN?!"

On the other scale of acceptance, Zelgadiss could also hear: "Oooooo, Momma! It's that rock band I was telling you about! They played with the Suzaku Seven!"

Soon a small cluster of fan-girls and boys swarmed the Slayers begging for autographs and fawning over them. A nice change, Zel thought, as a particularly attractive young lady approached him nervously.

"I don't have anything to write on…" she said, voice wavering with trepidation. 

"That's fine. I'll use this…" Zel smiled wickedly as he borrowed her pen and scribbled his signature. 

"Oh, GAWD! Laurie, LOOK! He's soooo much handsomer up close. You should see his eyes! Gawd! He IS an elf! He wrote his name on my arm! LOOK! I'll NEVER WASH MY ARM AGAIN! He touched me here, here, and…" she swooned.

"Nice going," Gourry smiled down at his friend. 

"Oh, well, I, ah…" Zel blushed and coughed shamefully. "Oh, better look out for Lina over there."

Lina had wandered off to check out the books at one of the numerous vendors. "Crap, all crap! Best sellers and crap! I can write better than this! Just wait until… HUH?"

One of the fan-boys had accosted her. He looked about twelve but towered over her awkwardly like a stork. "You are… the leader of the Slayers, right? Wow, I can't believe I'm talking to you like this! Wait till I tell my friends! Would you sign an autograph for me? Really? You would? Great…cool…I mean, if I had anything…"

Lina snatched up a copy of Anne Rice's THE VAMPIRE LESTAT and wrote, 'From Lina Inverse, buy my book next! Mine will be EVEN better!' "There! Take this!" she smiled.

"Wow!" blushed the boy as he crushed his prize to his chest and looked upon Lina with adulation.

"Hey, ya gotta pay fer that book!" shouted the woman at the stand.

"Oh…" the boy said, clearly dismayed and broke.

"Here, I'll pay for it," Lina snapped, forking over a bill or two in a rare gesture of generosity. "Consider it my investment in the future!" She gave him a wink and sauntered off in search of her group.

"You okay? That kid wasn't buggin' ya or somethin'?" Gourry asked as he snagged Lina's attention.

"Naw, just an autograph hunter. Uh…Gourry? What's this tiny braid doin' in your hair?" she gave him a half-smile.

He looked a bit embarrassed as he explained, "Well, ah, one of the girls over there did that, I guess, while I was busy signin' her friend's diary… or somethin'…"

"Hmm, and caught you unawares? Unlikely. Slippery though-- you, not them. You almost had me convinced," she smirked. "I just know that not much slips past you." Then under her breath she added, "Not if it's right under your freakin' nose…"

"Lina, it's the truth! I wasn't paying attention…" he garbled a bit then blushed. "Sure's nicer than having guys try an' kill us, hey?"

"Isn't THAT the truth!" Lina grinned. "Hey Sylphie! Over there, your mom's wavin' to ya to get in line for boarding!"

"Yes, dear," Nels Lahda agreed. "Time to go. Say your last well wishes now."

"Good-bye everyone!" Sylphiel cried and sniffled some more to each of her friends one in turn. When she reached Xelloss, she drew him into a warm embrace. "Don't forget me, okay?"

"Oh, I don't think I could hardly oomph! " Xelloss' words were cut off when she planted a heartfelt kiss on his lips.

"Ah, that's probably enough, Sylphiel," Lina growled as she helped separate the two kids. "I don't know about Xelloss, but your dad's not gonna forget that…he's about to have a heart attack."

The kids waited until the plane was out of sight before making their way back to the parking lot and 'home'.

"Ah, Mr. Lahda…SIR," Xelloss was dancing alongside the taller man. "It wasn't what you think!"

"Xelloss," Nels Lahda paused. "It's not about what I think anymore, it's about what YOU think and… what you are willing to do about it."

"Do? About…it? Whatever do you mean? I'm not… I haven't…" Xelloss burbled stupidly.

"Good. You just keep it that way then. It should be easy, considering that you two will be a few thousand miles apart for the next few weeks."

Xelloss nodded. At least there was that…

~*~Goodbye #3

"So, Val should be by any minute?" Zelgadiss asked his friend.

"Yeah. At least it didn't take me long to pack!" Xelloss smiled looking down at his nearly empty satchel in one hand and holding his priest's staff in the other.

"We'll all have to go clothes shopping when you get back, for school and all," Zel added. They both stood outside the shrine waiting for Val to come by and pick Xelloss up. "Ah, Val asked if I wanted to join you guys, you know…but I turned him down."

"Yes. Thank you, Zelgadiss. Lina will need you more, I'm afraid. Maybe I can…finish all this and get back in time for that shopping trip, neh? So, what have you got planned for the rest of summer?"

"Well, I'm going to keep up the sword training. Himura is amazing and I'm learning a lot. Lina and Amelia are taking a trip out to Nahga's 'troubled teen center' in Utah. I don't think I'll go, though. You never know when an important call may come," he said knowingly to Xelloss. He was hoping Xelloss would call him for help and not take unnecessary risks. "Also, I'm going to help Gourry work on Val's place. We want it done before school, right?" he asked. To himself he thought, "Please, Xelloss reassure me here that you're PLANNING on coming back!"

"It WOULD be nice to have someplace to live, when we get back," he smiled. "Now be a good friend and ask no more questions and keep our secrets, okay?"

"Of course. Here he comes."

"Hmm? Your ears are good! I don't hear a thing…Say good-bye to Lina and everyone and…don't worry, little brother. I'll come back. I promise."

Val waved goodbye as Xelloss clamored into the front seat. Zel nodded gravely and watched the car disappear down the road to the settlement, where they'd pick up Milgasia and say their good-byes to Filia and her family. 

"I won't worry…well, I'll TRY not to…big brother…"

~*~Goodbye #4

Xelloss giggled and handed the squirming little Quinny over to 'uncle' Val, "Careful! He still has a fistful of my hair! Don't puuuuull!"

"Aw, stop yer whinin'! Here, gimme a big good-bye hug and forget that other nitwit… Argh! Thaaaaaaaaaat's an earring ya have there! Let go of it, already! Help Filia!" Val gasped, struggling with the exuberant bundle attached to his head. 

"Ah, ha, ha!" Xelloss snorted in blissful joy. "See, you're not so tough either!"

"Ah, boys… We'd better be going if we're going to make it to our first stop by nightfall," Milgasia reminded them gently for the third time.

"That's right! Time to go. And don't you worry about us. I'll see to it that Filia is kept busy until you return!" her handsome cousin smiled.

"I'll bet…" Val grumbled under his breath.

"Good-bye, Xelly-pod," Filia smirked and gave Xelloss a little hug.

Xelloss took advantage of her unguarded moment and kissed her lightly. Before she could push away he whispered into her ear, "I'll watch out for Val and protect him from danger, Filly-poo."

Still puzzling over the meaning of his words, yet angered by his nerve, she remained immobile and simply stared at him. Val felt a lump in his throat. Why hadn't she hit the guy? Why does she let him kiss her like that?

She caught Val's expression, a sudden flash of mixed jealousy and confusion, and then Filia knew what to do. She strode right up to Val and said, "And good-bye, Val. I'm going to miss you a lot around here…" Then to make sure both Julian and Xelloss understood, She wrapped her arms around the lankly punk and pressed her lips to his for a long meaningful kiss. She backed down and sighed, "Lots…Val. Hurry back safely now!"

Milgasia rolled his eyes and literally dragged Val into the car with Xelloss following with his customary smile. "Now, to get your mind off of THAT, I'd like you to take the first turn off the highway to the right…" Milgasia began, explaining the route they would be taking. 

Xelloss snickered spasmodically from the back seat, "It'll take more than THAT to get his mind off his first kiss with Filia… that WAS the first, wasn't it? Of course, for me that was the third or…fourth… I've quite lost count!"

Val growled something obscene.

"This is going to be…a very long trip…" Milgasia sighed to himself and watched the row of trees fly by.

~*~Goodbye #5

"Amelia, before you go," Zelgadiss murmured in a voice so low she had to stand very close to hear, "I want to apologize for telling Chiriko those things. I mean, really apologize. I don't want you to go off thinking I'm trying to undermine your friendships with other people."

She nodded, but said nothing. She wouldn't help him out this time. He dug his own grave, now he could just dig himself out all by himself.

"I really don't know why I told him about…yeah…those times…and all. You certainly have the right to… wince go out with whomever you want, even though I happen to think you're too young."

"That's right! I do! You're not my daddy or my brother or my boyfriend!" Amelia agreed. "Just because YOU think you're too good for me doesn't mean you are…"

"What? I never said that I thought anything of the sort, Amelia! I messed up freak like me is lucky to have a… ah… really nice… girl like you as a friend. Really lucky. I-I'd like to have that friend back too. I'd like to make it up to you, if I could think of what to do to regain your respect again, before you go away still mad at me."

"Think harder, Mr. Zelgadiss. Try being honest with yourself. Try thinking with your heart a little. I know you've got a heart and passions. Losing your home twice in a year, your belongings, and nearly your friends—all that has had to have been extremely painful. You nearly tore up one of your friends the other day, so you HAVE feelings and you CAN express some of them…"

"With my fists, sure, Amelia, but I don't know HOW I feel about most things. I worked so hard NOT to feel so I wouldn't keep getting so damned hurt all the time. Now…it is strange. I did like the way you treated me special; it was so surprising, and I never knew how to react! Even then, the way that one guy, Melvin looked at you, or Chiriko… I knew I could never be like that."

"Like what? Be like what?"

"Just… do stuff together and go places together and feel like…like it was more than what it was," he sputtered, unable to articulate whatever was on his mind any more clearly. "It bothered me to think that he could just… do that, just meet you and become your friend and go places with you and become my better replacement, I guess, so easily, I mean."

"No one can replace you, Mr. Zelgadiss. You saved my life in that shrine as it fell down around us. You gave me my first kiss, and only ones—aside from Mr. Xelloss' good-bye one. You are so important to me… that is why you could hurt my feelings so much as well. I admire how you've put your life together after such an awful accident when you were just a kid, and how you've had to deal with the daily reminders of it from strangers. And again, you have to go through trial after trial with messed up families and burned up houses… You are so strong to get through it all and still do good in school and are loyal to your friends and band and all. I-I would have become a basket case a long time ago. I couldn't possibly find a replacement for someone like you. Not in a million years. Just try and get in touch with those feelings of yours and express them more often."

Zel was speechless. He found it very hard to take compliments, but those spoken with such sincerity by someone he KNEW would NEVER lie, by the one someone whose opinion for some uncertain reason actually mattered to him… well, it left him speechless.

"Amelia…"

"Okay, I've got all my stuff packed and ready to go!" Lina crashed the 'moment. "Hey, Zel, you tell Amelia that you're sorry for being such a creep yet? Yeah, well, then, let's go, Amelia. The train to Utah just MIGHT leave on schedule and we need to be on it!"

Gourry followed Lina out of her house looking glum. He had already told her everything he could: have fun, say hi for him…well, almost everything. He had memorized her return time. "Lina? I, uh…" he hesitated.

HONK, HONK! 

"Hey, you'll be busy and the time'll go by so fast you'll never miss us," Lina winked at him.

HONK, HONK! 

"See? Luna's here to give us that ride, so we gotta go. Bye, Gourry. Zel, if you change your mind and wanna come see Nahga… No, I don't suppose you wanna do that, huh? Heh, heh…last time she was around she couldn't keep her hands off you or Xelloss, right? She probably hasn't seen a decent guy in MONTHS so…"

"Miss Lina!" Amelia cried. "Zel's helping Gourry, remember? Bye now, guys! And…see you in a few weeks!" She smiled and waved to Zel who shyly waved back.

"Bye Amelia," he said. Thank you, Lina, for yet another save…"Have a good time, you guys!" he added to both girls. 

Yes, he was blessed with the most amazing assortment of friends, his dear friends, forever… whether or not he deserved them.

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Five. ~*~


	6. Chapter 6

The Slayers: Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel

.

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Six

"Dry. Hot AND dry. How come we're doing this in summer, tell me again? You're sure we couldn't just put this off until, say… next winter break? I'm kinda thirsty back here… He-ey! I'm hee-re! Dying of thirst…"

"Shit, Xelloss. Die already and shuddup!" Val growled. "How the crap did Zel put up with you for so long? Heh, heh… maybe HE burned down the house just to be freed from the curse of…"

"Ze curse of Xzzzzzzellosssssss!" Xelloss howled from the back seat of Val's Suburban.

Milgasia took off his headphones and flicked off the CD player, which had brought him a kind of peace for the last several hundred miles. "We should be seeing signs for a town. A railway once connected various mining towns throughout this area, from one mountain range to the other across the desert. This town survived as the mining panned out, turning most the others into ghost towns. What's so funny, Xelloss?" 

"'Panned out'? As in 'panning for gold'? Very funny, for an old-as-the-hills clan-guy," Xelloss smiled and looked out the window. Boring…

Milgasia shook his head and pointed out the upcoming turn-off, "We can get lunch and fill the tank. How's the mileage on this baby?"

Xelloss giggled. He found the term 'baby' associated with a big, macho car/truck to be hilarious, especially when coming from the older Milgasia. 

"Uh, not great in town, but better on the open road. Burger place. What'll you eat?" Val asked the vegetarian.

"They will have a meatless menu, this close to the Ancient Clan lands," Milgasia said confidently.

He was right. They all ordered burgers, his with a soy-substitute, fries, and chocolate shakes. The few patrons of the restaurant stared openly at the startling trio. Milgasia was tall and handsome with shoulder length golden hair. He looked like clan, including caramel-colored eyes that matched Val's. Val, with his green hair and punk get-up, looked like Milgasia's younger brother gone bad. Still, even though the Ancient's were long gone, the pair appeared…as if they belonged, as if they were a part of the land. 

Xelloss, on the other hand, stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb, and it didn't take someone with Zel's super-hearing to notice the sounds of disgruntled patrons. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and focused on his hands, avoiding meeting anyone's eyes. He hadn't felt so intimidated since he had entered Lina's circle of friends. 

The waitress returned, setting three heavy bags on the table. "Sorry, 'bout this, it's not my idea of hospitality, but the owner wants no trouble." She fumbled awkwardly with a pencil in her hands. "You two are welcome ta stay, but he oughta go, while he's got the choice."

Xelloss blanched with humiliation. "I'll wait out in the car…" he muttered and walked briskly to the door. 

Val loped out after his friend, while Milgasia asked to be introduced to the restaurant owner. "You do know that I am the Cephied Clan Leader and that those boys are traveling under clan protection?" he said in a low voice to the timid man.

"I didn't know that, Sir, but everyone in this place and for miles around recognizes that syndicate filth in your company. He's not welcome, I'm sorry, Sir."

"Well, it's also untrue! He's a priest with the Seyruun White Shrine with no ties to the syndicate. He's also done nothing but good for anybody, clan in particular," Milgasia said to the startled man loudly enough for the other patrons to overhear.

"See this?" he shouted while raising aloft an ornamented pendant hanging from a heavy chain. "You DO recognize the authority of the Supreme Elder out here don't you? I thought so… Well, he accepts the young man and shall hear of your rude behavior." Milgasia turned from the shocked man, grabbed the sacks of food, and strode out of the building with power and pride emanating from his tall frame.

"Here," he said shoving the sacks into the car. "Let's get the hell out of this hick town."

Val nodded and started for the driver's set, then paused, "Xelloss? Wanna give me a break here and drive a bit?"

Xelloss met his eyes with a cautious glance, "Sure you trust me?"

"Drivin' sure, just not 'round Filia!" Val chuckled and tossed his friend the keys.

Xelloss' eyes sparkled with excitement, "Whoa… I get to drive the new **_baby_**. Val, you have got to know that this is better than any girl."

"Yeah, sure. Yer just sayin' that 'cause there ain't no girls out here!"

"Well, certainly none that will have YOU!" Xelloss smirked as he sped off down the road. "That was all about you and your avant-garde appearance, you realize. You get us gorgeous guys thrown out of all the nicest places."

Milgasia stretched out along the back seat and chuckled softly at the kids' teasing banter. "There's a park up the road a ways. Look for that exit and we can eat." 

Settling at a hidden picnic table in an empty park, the men dove into their sacks. Val distributed the drinks, while Milgasia and Xelloss interpreted the packaging for food contents.

"You don't suppose they'd try and poison us, do you?" Xelloss asked after Val had swallowed his first bite.

"Better wipe off that smirk with the catsup, Xell-bob. It's not me they'd like to murder." More gently, Val added, "Sucks ta be you, doesn't it?"

"Sometimes, well… up until about October last year, I wished every night that I'd die in my sleep. Just not have to wake up and face the next day. Zelgadiss convinced me that if he had some reason to struggle through, that I had to too. So I decided that I had a reason for living. Wanna hear it?"

"I hope it's not something new…" Val muttered.

"Nope! I'm here to keep you all, my friends, happy and healthy!'

"By bein' an asshole and makin' us all glad we're not you?" Val grinned.

"No, stupid! I shall die, so that you may live, but first I have to make the world safe by…"

Milgasia cut him off with a hand on his arm, in warning, "This is a vacation. I do not want you worrying about saving the world or risking your life. Try to relax and enjoy it." He stared at Xelloss, trying to read his expression.

"Your Clan-mind-reading tricks will not work on me!' Xelloss smiled. "I'm nearly immune from Zel's Jedi mind reading skills as well, and when I am completely immune, then, and ONLY then, will I be master of the universe!'

Val sighed, "Yer been watchin' that anime crap with Lina, haven't ya?"

"Yes, lots! That's why we're all going to Japan after you and Gourry graduate next year. Lina thinks I made her a promise, so I guess it's true. She says, 'Xelloss, make it so!' and I do. I am trained to carry out orders very well. Speak, master, and I shall obey!"

"Xelloss? You're actin' weirder than usual, you okay? Somethin' buggin' ya?" Val asked.

Milgasia's eyes scanned them both. He also felt an undercurrent of tension.

"Yes… and no. I guess the way those people treated us… me, bothered me more than I'd like to admit. They actually wanted to kill me. I felt their rage, like a giant evil beast poised to attack me. I thought for a moment about how I could kill each and everyone of them. Slamming a chair into one guy's gut, breaking it over another's scull…cracking it… I could have killed that skinny creep in the back with my hands…" Xelloss demonstrated with a stick, squeezing and twisting until he snapped it in two. "That's why I ran out. Not to avoid them, but to avoid going ballistic in there."

Val had dropped his fries on the table, "Dude, when ya goin' ta see that shrink again?"

"You think I need to?" Xelloss smiled and giggled. "He says I'm okay now, for the most part. I mean, I AM under control. I won't let on about what's going on in my head, if it bothers you."

"You bother me. I look at ya and wonder why I'm not as messed up as you. My life with Gaav sucked. I coulda been a piece of garbage or worse…" Val said.

Xelloss riveted his purple eyes on Val and held him trance-like, "I was, for a few moments, the most powerful member of the syndicate… on two continents, maybe three… and… and I gave it up to be a priest in the shrine and a drummer in a band and a friend… to you and the others. I am not actually crazy either, so…" he smiled charmingly and cocked his head. "If you're done, can we go? And… I wanna drive again, pleeeease?"

Milgasia started breathing again. Val's heart rate returned to normal. "Yeah, I'm done and yeah, yer on fer drivin' just…put on some music so I don't have'ta hear yer yappin'."

"Yap-ping! Val, when are you going to start those elocution lessons? I mean, isn't it about time you learned to speak like a normal human being, or at least one with a fifth grade education?" He dove out of range of a passing jab from Val, then cried out, "That's it!"

"What NOW?" Val sighed as he battled with Milgasia for the rights to the back seat.

"Come sit up front and I'll tell you," Xelloss smiled.

Milgasia smirked and mouthed 'I won!' then climbed into the back to sleep.

"Okay, we're on the road. What's 'it'?" Val asked, regretting it instantly. 

"E-nun-see-ay-shun. I can teach you how to speak like the intelligent man-about-town that you are so that you can get that job you've always dreamed about…"

"I don't need no new job…" Val insisted.

"AND, the girl I KNOW you've been dreaming about," Xelloss smiled.

"What do you know 'bout my dreams?"

"I have dreams too," Xelloss smiled. "Now, first lesson. All words ending in the letters 'ing' are pronounced 'ING', not 'IN', got that? Try saying, 'the rain is raining all about…'"

"Knock it off, Xelloss. I ain't interested in soundin' smart. I'll just look good and you can sound smart," Val smirked.

"Julian can look AND sound good," Xelloss smiled.

"I can speak as well as any of you, if I try," Val said, speaking slowly and carefully. "It just does not fit into the personal mannerisms that I wish to portray as me, Val. Got it? Satisfied?"

"Ooooo, you can talk intelligently. Nice job, and you can run multi-syllabic words together smoothly too. You win, then. Put in the music and we can sing…" Xelloss smiled.

"Cephied… noooo," Milgasia moaned.

"Did you hear something from the back? Someone objecting perhaps?" Xelloss smiled evilly at Val.

"Nah, he's asleep. Yeah, let's put in this and sing. What have we got? Best of Queen again?" Val chuckled.

"Ughhhhh…" came a groan.

The two guys serenaded one another the rest of the way to the Ancient Clan ruins.

~*~

Zelgadiss had decided that having a car had spoiled him, and so, was riding his bike to sword training and then over to Gourry's for lunch, instead of shopping for a new car. 

"My, dear, I don't think I have ever seen you eat before, " Gourry's mother remarked.

"Ah, it's really good, Mrs. Gabriev. I had been used to doing most of the cooking before, but at Detective McGywn's they aren't accustomed to my style, I guess, because lately, he's been ordering out."

"You must miss having your own place," she said sympathetically.

"Yeah, that and my computer, and my dog, and my… ah, other friends around to talk to. Zangulus is all right, but…I'm glad Gourry has stayed around too."

Gourry smiled. He knew Zel missed Xelloss and Lina for conversation. "I gotta call from the contractors doin' the guttin'. They're all done, if ya wanna come give me a hand and walk through the place."

Zel stared at his friend blankly.

"Ah, the house is clean. I can take ya over in the truck, if yer interested," Gourry repeated.

"Oh, yes. That would be great. I…um…I was stuck on this really strange vision of some men gutting fish or animals or something much, much worse," Zel met Gourry's eyes and blushed, feeling rather foolish.

"Good thing you're getting' away from Xelloss and Val for awhile, huh?" Gourry asked, then smiled with good humor.

"Yeah, I suppose returning to the wholesomeness of a real normal family environment is good for my soul," Zel remarked, then noticed four curious sets of blue eyes, watching him. "Ah, hello girls, Joey, Chuckie…"

"Hi-ii, Zelgadiss," Joey greeted him with a hug and a strangely familiar sing-song voice.

Zel and Gourry did one of their mind-link conversations, "Shit, he's got the mannerisms down and he even sounds like Xelloss, Gourry. He's scary…"

"I know, it's like an alien's taken over my little brother…Mom won't let him dye his hair purple or he would."

"I am so sorry…"

"Nothin' you did…"

"But I feel somehow responsible, introducing them and all…"

"Nah, woulda happened sooner or later…"

"Inevitable then, you think?"

Actually, Zel was thinking how Joey looked like a cross between Filia and Xelloss then slapped himself mentally for the horrid image THAT conjured up.

Gourry continued aloud, "Yeah…Watch out, sister attack…"

But Gourry's warning came a few seconds too late to save Zelgadiss from the curious fingers of the not-so-timid girls.

"Oooooo," Shari squealed. "You've got earrings! Wow, that makes you, like, so cool, Zel!"

Zel jumped out of chair, or would have if Joey hadn't a hold on him. 

"Fe-el his hair!" the other sister, Keri, cooed.

"Gah! You guys! I babysat for you for years and my hair's the same as it was…" Zel retorted, brushing off unwelcome hands.

"Oh, Ze-el, that was like, ages ago. You were all normal and all back then. Now you are soooo hot, especially when you turn all pink and cute and stuff. Don't you think he's hot?" the first girl, Shari, asked the other.

"Yeah!"

"Not you Joey!" she slapped her idiot brother. 

Zelgadiss gave Gourry a REALLY pitiful look. "Come on, I gotta lot of work ta do," Gourry said to Zel.

Giving his tall friend a grateful nod, Zel leaped over the table and flew out the door to freedom.

"Thanks, Gourry. What was that all about? It's like they'd never seen me before," Zel said in amusement while bouncing along the road to Val's.

"Ah, you're a smart guy, Zel. You figure it out," Gourry said a bit sharply, for him.

"Um, they're all picking on the freaky guy who they're fast dwarfing as they try and out grow one another?"

"Zel, they're all teenagers… my sisters and Joey… you know, that hormone thing and all…" Gourry frowned at the bewildered look on Zel's face.

"All right. If you say so. But it was ME! Your sisters and, Gods forbid, your brother are attracted to ME? That's pretty weird, if you think about it…" Zel said.

"Tell me about it. I can't invite Xelloss over or they get even weirder. Val… well, he still scares them. Joey, well he's kinda nutty but he notices that Amelia's pretty well built at least. You know what that was like…"

"What?" Zel asked not knowing what Gourry was referring to.

Gourry reappraised his friend for a moment. "Maybe you aren't so smart after all," he chuckled.

"What ARE you getting at? I'm confused here…"

"You remember when you first started noticin' girls and talkin' to friends about it, right?" Gourry sighed.

"Oh…ah, no. I missed most of that time. About the time when I was entering adolescence, my father's chemistry lab exploded in my face. After that, girls have been the least of my concerns, seeing as they mostly prefer to ignore me," Zel reminded his friend quietly.

Gourry groaned, "I keep forgettin' all that. I'm so used to yer face the way it is I don't think nothin' of it. No… that's it… the scars don't show up like they once did. I think they're fading away… and the redness is mostly gone, too. I hadn't thought 'bout it until we started talking here. Anyway, you seem to have plenty of girl trouble these days."

"I do? Oh, yes…Amelia. Well, I think I took care of that. I THINK! She said so much crap to me I'm not sure where things stand, but we're still friends."

Gourry chuckled and shook his head. "She had a crush on you and you were not very helpful, ya know. Then you kinda woke up, then 'Blam!' ya went back into your shell. Now you just seem ta send out mixed signals. You don't seem interested in anyone."

"That's right. Lately I've had my hands full trying to stay alive, sane, and currently under a roof!" Zel growled.

"Hey, man! I understand! Just makin' conversation, Zel."

"Sorry, Gourry. It's a sensitive issue, I guess. Xelloss and Val spoke of nearly nothing else around the house but girls, like a competition or something. I really have NO interest in having a…girlfriend and can't fathom why it's so damned important to them," Zel said in an exasperated tone.

"Yeah, well you and Lina have that in common. It's okay. We're all different that way, I guess. So, ah… how're you and Zangy getting along?"

"Fine. Except…he practices that damned sax at night! I'm more of a morning person and after one of his loooooong practice sessions I'm dragging the next day. Plus he isn't very interesting to talk to. Hell, even Van's got more personality in his nose…well, that wasn't a very good example, but…

"He should wash his hair more often and DO something with that hunk that hangs down in his face or I might just whack it off at night… sometime… with that stupid 'Howling Sword' of his. 

"And, his house is a mess with takeout food all over the place. MY cooking is too SPICY and upsets his sensitive stomach. Shit, he's got to have a steel-lined one to handle all the crap he eats.

"And I haven't seen my dog in so long… 'cause Zangy has an allergy to dog hair…bird feathers…pollen…spores…milk…how about DUST?" Zel ranted, becoming a bit wild-eyed.

"I'm stoppin' by yer Dad's place now so you can see Beast," Gourry said as he slowed to a stop in front of Zel's childhood home.

Zel didn't know what to say, so he simply nodded and tore out of the truck and flew up the steps. There he fell onto the big wolf-dog sleeping in front of the door. 

Gourry could tell by the way that Zel's back was shaking, that he was probably crying, so he remained in the truck, waiting patiently. He didn't know what he could do for all Zel's problems, but this was one he could do for his mournful friend. After a few minutes Zel stood and talked to the dog.

"Zel? Bring him along to Val's place. He can sniff around and get used to the smells so he'll know the place when he goes to live there in a few weeks."

That was a great idea. Zel looked happier than he'd been in a week and Beast was almost as happy himself.

"Thanks Gourry, for listening to my complaining and coming to get Beast for me. You're really a great guy and a terrific friend," Zel gushed, but he didn't blush. He'd really meant it and was surprised at how easy it was to open up and tell him how he felt.

Gourry smiled, "Thanks, so are you, Zel…the best, but… can you keep _him_ off me while I'm drivin'? That dog sure is big up close and all, isn't he?"

And in no time, Gourry got Zel's mind off his troubles and listened to him tell all about Beast's idiosyncrasies, which was better than hearing about Zangulus'. Gourry smiled as he thought to himself about how satisfying it _would_ be to cut off that lock of Zangulus' hair. Yes…so gratifying…

Shortly after collecting Beast, they arrived at Val's old place.

"So, you don't think it will take much time to add a couple bathrooms and re-plumb the others?" Zel asked Gourry as they walked through the gutted house that had once housed Val, Gaav, and numerous thugs and petty thieves.

"It would if I had ta do it all, but I decided to contract it out to some guys I can trust. As Val put it, money's not the object, time is. See, each of the three bedrooms will be about the same size with a bath in between. One small guest room and bath out closer to the front of the house will be added here and the kitchen… I had my mom draw up a plan since she knows more about cookin' than anyone I know, 'cept you. The layout's in here. Ever read a blueprint? I'll show you how…" 

Gourry showed Zel the ins and outs of the kitchen, making a few changes and adjusting the counter heights and cabinets for Zel and Xelloss. Val would never know the difference, but the primary cooks would!

"Electrical checked out real good, so aside from setting up Internet cabling to each room and lights for the additions, that's not an issue."

"I've got to hand it to you, Gourry. You really know your stuff when it comes to construction. If you can handle a crew a well as everything else in your life, you're going to run a hell of a business someday," Zel remarked.

Gourry smiled and thanked him with a blush. Suddenly they both felt like adults. Before either could say anything else to embarrass one another, Zel's cellphone buzzed.

"Yes? Ah, yes, this is Zelgadiss. What can I do for you Mr. Nels Lahda? Check my…why my sword? What?! Have you called Detective McGywn about this yet? All right… No, all my stuff's at his place, the sword too, but… Gourry's right here. We're at Val's old place. No, tell McGywn we'll go to Gourry's first, then his house. Yeah, thanks… Yes, he took his staff with him, I saw Xelloss put it in Val's car myself. Let's not call them until we've looked into the other heirlooms whereabouts, all right? Yeah, I know… that's my life… bye."

Disconnecting the call, Zel then turned to Gourry and filled him in on the news, "Well, Gourry, the Red Priest's staff is gone. Stolen. Removed from the shrine without approval or notification of the staff. The cloak was untouched, so it wasn't a simple burglary. Come on, we have to check your father's heirloom and then mine," Zel sighed. "Beast? Wake up! Time to move on!"

"Um, we need ta check Lina's place too, I think. Just a feeling…" Gourry cautioned him.

~*~

Nothing whatsoever could have prepared the trio for the horrible scene of mass destruction that lay before their eyes. The homeland of the Ancient clan was a wasteland. No building was unmarred. Portions of neighborhoods were recognizable as such only by the work of an overactive imagination that could reassemble buildings and roads from piles of rubble. Here and there, sooty reminders of a fire, which had raged through the center of town, were evident. 

Val stopped the car in the middle of a road made impassable by huge limestone blocks, once forming supporting columns for a tall building now a heap of rocks. 

Standing beside one of those blocks, he spoke for the first time since entering the compound. "Where do ya think the temple was?"

Milgasia cleared his throat, which was dry and sore, "Up there. On the side of the mountains, so that it could look out over the valley of believers. Dear gods… what happened here?"

"This was no natural disaster, if that's what you were wondering," Xelloss said seriously. He stepped gingerly around a snag of rusting steel rebar, stooping occasionally to examine a piece of rock or scrape off a sample of black soot.

Milgasia agreed, but was curious as to why Xelloss should think so.

Val, however, spoke next. "Is it possible that the syndicate could have done something like this?"

Milgasia waited for Xelloss to answer, "Yes. Possibly, but…unlikely." He looked up at Milgasia. "Can you take us up to the temple? If it still stands it might tell us something."

"Yeah, go back out to the main road and we'll look for a road in good enough condition to drive on. It will be a bear of a hike if we have to hoof it most the way," Milgasia warned them. "Here, let me drive and you help scout for axle-breakers."

Val traded places with Milgasia and the drive began. It was rough going, but he forged a path three-quarters of the way up. Alas, a damaged bridge halted their car's progress, and forced them to climb and scrabble through unfriendly terrain in the late afternoon sun.

"(*&)*&%&^$*%& !!!!" Val complained abusively. His shoulder scraped against a rocky ledge surfaced like sandpaper when he lost his footing. 

"Whose *&^&^% idea was it to go here? HUH? YOU, Xelloss, YOU get your ass in front and lead the way."

"Oooo, you just can't get enough of me, huh?" Xelloss teased unmercifully. He hadn't hurt himself yet and decided that his smaller stature and karate training had afforded him greater agility, which was to his advantage. He hobbled over some rocks and skipped in front of Val, wiggling his hips and giggling. "Come and get it!" 

Val muttered another string of profanity and struggled forward. "Yuh better hope I don't ketch (catch) up with ya, fruitcake!"

"I am SOOOO afraid, Vally-boy! Hey, you're making me hungry… Ketch-up with fruitcake, yummmmm!" Xelloss giggled more and disappeared ahead.

A few minutes later… "Yoooo-del-ay-eee-whoooooooooo…."

"Gods, he's yodeling now…" muttered Milgasia.

"Just a few more squat thrusts and leg stretches and you'll be here!" Xelloss chortled from a short distance ahead and above.

"Whoa…what a view," gasped Val as he swept the sweat off his brow with a swipe of his arm. He collapsed in a spot of shade from a natural overhang.

"Smart people, those Ancients," Xelloss smiled from a little ways off.

They all drank gratefully from the goatskin water bag Milgasia had remembered to bring (and fill ahead of time!), while gazing out over the panorama of the clan lands. 

"Magnificent!" they all agreed.

"So, why did we come up here?" Xelloss asked in a wry tone.

Val gave him a deadly glare, "You thought we'd learn somethin'."

"Ah…" Xelloss smiled. "Then I suppose I shall look around a bit. You can follow, when you can get up," he added, all chipper himself.

Milgasia stopped Val's next outburst with a hand, "Why do you let him get to you like that? Just let him go and be alone for awhile."

"We're always competin', him an' me. Without Zel here to temper him, he's just havin' too much fun. I'm okay…though maybe I outta take up that karate and get in shape," Val smiled a tiny bit and shook his head. He thought about Filia and knew he had a chance, even if it was a slim one, even with that cousin JULIAN hanging around all cultured and smooth and…

"Careful there Val, that's marble you're trying to crush in your fist, not Xelloss' neck," Milgasia said in attempt to add some humor to the occasion.

"Huh? Oh, not Xelloss… I was thinkin' of someone else. Which reminds me, better go look for the nutcase before he tumbles down a rabbit-hole and disappears…"

After a turn or two about the perimeter of the temple, they found Xelloss perched cross-legged, precariously on the slate roof.

"So? What do ya think?" Val called up to him.

Xelloss smiled and gracefully leaped down to join the other two. "I think that the temple was left unharmed. I see no signs of blasts, just disrepair from standing untended for so many years. Also… I think we could use Zelgadiss and his skills at breaking and entry. This door has a digital locking devise similar to the shrine near Ridkou Village."

"Is that weird? That shrine wasn't clan," Val wondered.

"Maybe yes, maybe no. Could be the same security salesman calls at all the best shrines and temples, no?" Xelloss smiled goofily.

Meanwhile, Milgasia was trying his hand at getting past the security device. "It seems that none of my clan's codes are accepted here, not that thought they would, but it would have been advantageous."

"Barring the possibility that there is evidence to the contrary inside," Xelloss continued. "I don't think this was a syndicate job."

"Huh? Whaddya mean? Who else woulda blasted the entire valley like that, and WHY? What was to be gained by all that?" Val cried out in exasperation.

"Someone who wanted the powerful Ancient clan wiped off the face of the planet. Someone who wanted something they couldn't get or find or steal any other way. Someone who knew about the meeting of the clans that day, when the valley would be most vulnerable with most of the population on… Wait…how big a plane could that have been? It couldn't have carried more than a few hundred people! How many do you think lived in this valley?"

"I dunno. We could find out, right?" Val turned to Milgasia who nodded.

"Thousands, I would guess by the size of it and the number of buildings. So with the leadership and most privileged and healthiest of the clan on that plane, the remaining populous would be easy to catch unawares and… The plane was probably rigged to blow up or lose control, whatever." Xelloss' voice faded away as he began his descent back down to the car. 

Milgasia agreed that there was nothing to be gained by staying any longer and began his climb down as well.

"Was he sayin' that this was an inside job? That the Ancients destroyed themselves? That's a loada crap!" Val loped quickly after Milgasia and Xelloss, "I said…'That's a loada crap, Xelloss!' It was the syndicate! Hell, it coulda been Gaav! He mighta known! He mighta known lots… he latched onto my mom fast…and me. He musta known…Xelloss! You listenin'?! Hey! Are ya…."

But the thunder from a barrage of falling rocks pounding the ground over and around him, cut off his words. He lost his footing as the mountain started to crumble and the entire side began to slide. 

Cries from his friends were barely discernable above the deafening roar. A huge cloud of dust encompassed his vision as the avalanche propelled him chaotically into the ravine where the bridge had already fallen. 

It had only lasted a few seconds. In that short amount of time, everything changed.

"Val! Val! Milgasia? ANYONE!"

"Xelloss? Over here, that is, if you can move!" Milgasia shouted. 

"Yes, I'm fine, a little scratched but… Oh, my…" Xelloss covered his eyes, but it was too late. His bloodied arm was all he saw before the darkness overtook his senses.

"He really does faint at the sight of his own blood. Great. Great, bloody, fine, great!" moaned Milgasia trapped to the waist in loose shale. "Val? Val! Val! Can you hear me? Where are you?!"

~*~

Gourry's smile shown with relief when he found his father's heirloom sword still hiding in its box beneath his bed. 

"Better take it with us," Zel advised. "I don't really know why, but I have this feeling that it's not safe here."

Beast had a sniff-fest over both the case and the sword. He even growled slightly when Gourry lowered the sword back into its slot, snapped the case closed and swung it up out of his reach. 

"That's enough, buddy," Zel smoothed the dogs hackles somewhat.

Gourry nodded. He had come to trust Zelgadiss' instincts when it came to anything unrelated to interpersonal relationships. 

"I don't know if I mentioned this to ya, but the other day when I was finishing up work at Lina's…I found this really tight axe in a woodpile. Not too weird, huh? But wait till ya see the marks on it…" Gourry alerted him.

"Lead on…"

Indeed, the moment Zel jimmied the lock and opened Lina's back door, Beast howled and bounded into the house intent on a mission of his own. 

Gourry shouted, "Look under her bed!"

Zel flew down the hall, to Lina's room, to find Beast already snuffling and clawing at a towel-wrapped bundle beneath her bed. 

"Well, maybe we can use you to help sniff out heirlooms… Hey, don't you growl at ME! We can check this out together. Yes, you do the smelling and I'll do the visual examination. 

"Hey, Gourry! Your eyes were right on target. Look how these markings match your sword here and here. They're reminiscent of those on the pendants Xelloss and Fila carried, but…definitely NOT the same…that's for sure. All right, now let's go get my sword and do some more comparisons. If I could get up…crap, it's heavy! Probably weighs a ton…"

Gourry nodded and grasped Lina's 'axe' and lifted it from Zel's lap effortlessly. "Okay, now ya can move, right?"

Zel smiled and shook his head, "You do that just to show off, don't you? Yeah, don't go all innocent on me. You are the strongest guy I know. I can barely lift that thing and there you just go and swing it around like a baseball bat!"

Gourry grinned and blushed slightly. "On to Zangulus' house then?"

"Yeah, let's go," Zel agreed and led the way back to Gourry's company truck. "You know, I feel a bit like Hercules' side kick! See, you carry this humongous sword and an axe that together weigh twice as much as I do, while I run along beside you, trying to keep up and jabbering to a dog. When did I become so ridiculous? Stop laughing at me! You can't laugh at me and be the leading man! You're supposed to tell me about all my strong points and make me feel worthwhile! Gourry!"

Gourry was chuckling, then laughing aloud as Zelgadiss became more animated than usual. Either he was a manic-depressive or the act of sharing his life with Xelloss and Val had lightened him up significantly. This must have been the Zel Lina had known as a kid.

Detective McGywn had parked outside his home moments before Gourry pulled up with Zelgadiss and Beast.

Zel pointed to the house, and together with Beast, stormed inside.

"He's awfully lively…" the man remarked to Gourry.

"We found my…thing and another, that you don't know about and…" Gourry's summary of the events leading up to the moment was interrupted by Beast's howl reverberating off the interior walls of the house. "Ah…um…I think he's found his…thing too…"

The detective gave him a blank look, then said, "Would you like to come inside, son?"

Gourry found Zel and Beast fighting for the right to be first to open and get a good look at his sword. Zel, having fingers, won the contest, mostly…Beast took the first sniff and growled.

"Now we need to compare all these markings…" Zel insisted. He loved to solve puzzles and riddles and was certain that there was some information contained in the markings, if he could figure out the code.

"On it…" Gourry said. "Uh…I need a piece of plain paper and a pencil. Thanks." He rubbed the pencil over the paper pressed upon the finely etched lines on each of the artifacts. One at a time, the rubbings appeared on the paper, light lines on the dark carbon background. When he was done, all three engravings were copied one above the other on the single paper, easy to compare.

"Gourry, this really helps. Where did you come up with this idea?" Zel asked with appreciation.

"Boy scouts," he smiled. "Good way to compare different tree bark, ya know?"

"Yes, clever… All right, now…" Zel murmured as he concentrated on the markings.

"So, all your heirlooms are intact?" McGywn asked. "What's that?"

"Found it at Lina's place when I was doing some work there," Gourry answered. "The marks on it made me think of my sword, so Zel's checking them against his too."

"Too bad we didn't think to do this when we had that staff around as well," Zel observed.

"Think Xelloss' staff is related, too?" McGywn asked.

"Possibly. I'll give him a call. Funny, I haven't heard from Val or him, not that I expected too, but you would have thought one of them would have called someone by now," Zel noted. He punched #1 and waited. After a few rings, he tried Val's, then –on a remote chance—Milgasia. No answer.

"Nothing. They must be out of range. I'll try again later."

"How about Filia? They'd have called her fer sure," Gourry suggested.

"Right…I'll try…Filia? Hey, Zel here. Yes, fine, um have you heard from…No? I can't reach them. What? Listen, McGywn's here, would you tell him all that? Hold on…" Zel passed the phone to the detective, saying, "They haven't checked in for days…"

Gourry's eyes met Zel's, "We better call the mayor and get that address in Utah. Lina and Amelia…they're gonna need ta know if there's trouble.'

Zel nodded. Dread filled his heart once again. 

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Six. ~*~


	7. Chapter 7

The Slayers: Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel

.

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Seven

"I am Soooo glad to be outta that hell-hole. Oh, you just can't imagine how utterly boring…Ah, hah! Lina, would ya take a look at the hot bod over yonder. He's goin' into the miniature golf place. Come on, Lina, we have TO GO THERE! And, um, you too, Sissy-bug." The dark-haired, statuesque young woman grabbed Lina's arm and yanked her off her feet.

"But Miss Gracia! You know we only agreed to take you to lunch. What will the administrators at the Heavenly Helpers Ranch do if we return with you too late?" Amelia, 'sissy-bug', dug in her heals and clung to Lina's other arm tenaciously.

"Lina? Do you hear the buzzing of a little bug? A kind of whining, annoying repetitive sound?" Nahga, 'Gracia', asked in a raspy whisper.

"Both of you… now. Let go of me! Or I will blow…" Lina growled in a low voice.

"That's right, Lina. You always were an independent little squirt. Well, I'm gonna have me one good time this summer and it's starting with meeting up with that guy over there right now!" Nahga released Lina's arm and made a run for it.

"Amelia, after her!" Lina shouted.

"On it, Miss Lina!" Amelia cried.

The object of Nahga's affections had already entered the park, and since she had no money for admittance, Miss Nahga was left in the lurch, holding the bag, seriously dumped.

Lina and Amelia found her clinging to the cyclone fence, calling, or something like that.

"OH, ho,ho,ho,hooooooo! Wait up for us!"

It looked so pathetic that Lina bought them all tickets (using Amelia's money). "Miniature golf, go figure," she chuckled.

As it turned out, the three unlikely companions enjoyed the game.

Lina was determined to win, and did, but at fourteen over par, it was a weak victory. Amelia came in second with a 'really good' twenty-one over par. Nahga, well, her head just wasn't in the game, to be sure. They stopped counting after she reached forty-something over par. She considered it a victory, however, when her four inch putt resulted in a forty-two yard flight down the fairway into Adam's game. 

Adam was this day's heart-throb. It could have been any 16 to 25 year old of the male persuasion, but Adam had caught Nahga's eye. Now that she had run the course in pursuit of her wayward golf ball, jumping the obstacles and other players like hurdles on a track, she planted herself in front of her quarry and held out a hand.

Now, Nahga had caught his eye as well. Both eyes nearly popped out at the vision filling Adam's field of view. Nearly as tall as him, she wore her long, straight black hair loosely flowing around hers shoulders and ample breasts, which appeared about to lurch out of her skimpy black tank top as she gasped for air. The top barely grazed her lower ribcage, revealing a skull-pierced belly-button above a low-slung black leather belt that didn't seem to be holding up anything. Her long tanned legs sprouted from black cut-offs, which were a mite too cut-off, he noted, as she bent over to pick up her golf ball.

"Got it! Say, huff, puff my name's Nahga. Thanks for saving this from going into the water for me!" she smiled and lowered her eyelids halfway. 

He adjusted his glasses and his smile, then ran a hand through his light brown hair. He extended his other hand to shake hers and said, "Adam, and I, ah, really didn't do much. I, ah, don't even think I saw the water…" 

He looked over his shoulder to see if, indeed, there WAS any water to see; that is, he MEANT to do that, but he couldn't take his eyes off Nahga. She had that effect on men.

"Awww, you are just too sweet…Adam. You know, I'm kinda thirsty and I'm way far ahead of my teammates. How 'bout you and I get some refreshment? Over there…" she took his arm and directed him to the snack bar.

He nodded vacantly, stunned by his incredible good fortune to have stumbled onto this vision of young womanhood beyond his wildest college-freshman, physics-major imagination (much less experience).

Meanwhile, Lina and Amelia continued to plug away, knocking those little white balls through the windmill, around the sandtrap, and over the bridge from one hole to the next, until, sometime later, they reached the end of the game and looked around for their missing teammate. 

"Miss Lina? I think that's her, over by the snack bar," Amelia cried out.

"Oh yeah? Is there some guy with drool dripping out of the corner of his mouth with her? Do they serve alcohol here? Better hurry then," Lina suggested.

"OH, ho, ho, hooooooooooooooooooo! Here come my little sis and my little friend. Yoooooooooo-hooooooooo! Over here! Did you have a nice game? Oh, yeah, who won? Lina, naturally, what was I thinking? Oh, this is Adam. Adam, this is Amelia, my widdle sister. And the under-developed little one is Lina Inverse. Perhaps you've heard of her? They're singers in this little band back home, called the Slayers, right girls?"

Adam was nodding, some. He had most likely lost part of his hearing due to her ear-piercing laughter. 

Lina looked squint-eyed at Nahga.

Amelia gave her big sister a hard look.

"What's in the glass, Nahga?" Lina asked.

"Ginger-ale. Want some?" Nahga offered her her glass.

Lina snatched it out of her hand and sniffed it, then exhaled, "It's okay, Amelia. It's what she says."

Nahga appeared a bit miffed, but didn't want to seem foolish in front of her current 'beau', so she said instead, "I myself am quite famous! Perhaps you have heard of me, the Great White Serpent? Exotic dancer in Sairaag? Oh, yes, I'm soooo famous that they have to taste my food before I eat… In case it's poisoned… The competition is THAT tough… Helloo- hoooooo?"

Nahga waved her hand in front of Adam's face.

"Oh, brother…" Lina sighed.

Amelia whipped out a handkerchief and held it to the poor young man's bloody nose. "Gracia, back off a bit. Can't you see he's under a great deal of stress here? He needs air!"

"Ah, you're getting him confused with Zelgadiss, that other nerd from home," Lina said in a low voice.

"Miss Lina! How unjust of you to talk about him when he's not even here to defend himself!" Amelia cried.

"Geesh… I only said," Lina muttered under her breath. She was no longer amused.

"And weren't you the one to outlaw the name calling? That was the right thing to do and I was so proud of how you stopped the nastiness going on at the table!" Amelia grinned.

"Well, actually…that didn't cover me. It was mostly to protect Xelloss and…"

"Yes, I know. You weren't worried about yourself. You are the strongest person I know, Miss Lina! You wanted to protect those who were weaker from the unrighteous jibs and barbs of the cruel barbarians…" Amelia shouted. She was standing with one foot on the table and the other on her chair, balancing herself with an outstretched hand on Adam's head.

"What is she all charged up about?" Nahga asked Lina from behind her hand and leaning over toward her friend.

"Beats me. So, what do you want to do about Adam here? You can't take him back to the ranch, ya know," Lina reminded her friend.

"No? Too, bad, huh? So, Adam? Eyes up here! You work or are you a student someplace?" Nahga asked.

"Me? I'm at the university, Seyruun University. I don't suppose you know the place?" he blushed.

"Seyruun? Why, my father's the Mayor! Well, what do ya know? What a small world! Tell ya what. Here's my card…no, can't give ya that one, wrong address… ah… Sissy-bug?"

Amelia frowned at the use of her baby-fied pet name.

"Amelia, you wouldn't have a card with our home number on it, would you…dear?" Nahga smiled engagingly.

Amelia considered for a moment. He was a student, nice looking, clean, probably way too good for her sister, but… "Yes I do!" she said at last, having decided that her daddy would have approved. 

She plowed through her tiny pink purse until she found a simple pink card with black engraving. She handed it over to Adam with a blue pen. "You'll want to mark out my name and write my sister's; that's 'N' 'A' 'H' 'G' 'A'.

"Thank you… Amelia. Wow, you really are the Mayor's daughters! I can't believe my luck today! And to think, I had to come all the way out here to meet… the girl of my dreams… when you've been right under my nose all the time…" he said dreamily.

"Oh, pul-leeese!" Lina griped. "Although there is a lot of her under his nose right now…" she added under her breath.

"Hey, Nahga. I hate to break this all up and all, but we gotta be back before dinner to all get in showers. So why don't you two find a good way to say…'see ya in fall' and let's get goin'!" Lina suggested.

Lina had had enough romance and strained familial relationships for one day. Time to eat and go swimming. That was her plan, and it was time to do some Lina stuff, right?

~*~

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:~ Val's Dream ~:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: 

He was waking up from a bad dream about dragons killing one another and thinking that he'd ask his mother to read a book about robots for his next bedtime story, when the eerie feeling he'd had in the dream returned, big time. 

He coughed and sat up crying, "Momma…MOMMA!"

"Shhhh, Val. I'm here…" she called out in a strained voice. "We have to go. Quickly now, put on your sweatshirt while I finish packing a few things."

"But, Momma? I'm sick! It's dark! Where are we going?"

Val's mother flew out of the room, too busy to answer. He pulled on his top and waited. Something was wrong about the light outside. It was night and nowhere near full moon, but the sky was glowing. He crept to the window for a peek and saw brilliant flashes below in the valley. A storm. It must be a storm, but he'd never seen one like that before. He thought he saw clouds of dust marring the familiar outlines of the tall civic center. Must be fog or clouds…very low clouds.

"Oh, Val…come away from that window. We've got to hurry…" his mother insisted.

Somehow in the confusion of dreams, the little boy found himself being half carried, half dragged down through endless dark tunnels, the ringing of his mother's frantic heels on the hard stone the only clue to his whereabouts. A rabbit hole, just like falling down a rabbit hole. They were going into the mountain caverns beneath the temple, his home.

"Momma, I want to go back to the temple and back to my bed, not down here!"

"It isn't safe there, dearest. We must wait in the catacombs for your father, brothers, and sisters to return. Let's hurry and find your special room."

Val dreamed of crying and waking and sleeping, holding his toy and wishing the morning would come. When it came, his world had changed forever.

He had stayed with his mother below the temple for four days and nights before they decided to leave. His father had not returned, no one had come to tell them all was safe for them to resurface, but the food supply was running low. His mother led him up to the temple and out to the lookout beneath a natural stone overhang. There they viewed the desolation of what had once been their entire world.

In silence, they picked their way down the mountain path, hidden from the road to the temple. The bridge across the ravine cutting their path was out, damaged by a fallen tree. And there his mother stopped. She could go no further. Together they sat in mourning, the little boy on her lap, and cried for the dead.

Val's dream wove non-sequential memories into a fluid psycho-drama.

Out of the rising mists and half-light came a tall man of gigantic proportions. His mane of hair glowed with the reflection of thousands of raging fires. He spoke and carried him and his mother to a car. The pleading voice of his mother was interwoven with the sounds of a heavy crate being loaded into a trunk and of suitcases flung onto the floor near where he lay curled up on the back seat. Then they drove off. 

The car bumped and crashed over a debris strewn road. The little boy wondered why this man couldn't just drive on the nice smooth road like his daddy did. His head was hurting. He must have slept.

The nightmare continued when he woke up. The stranger's voice was low and harsh as he told them of an accident, a plane crash, the death of his father, brothers and sisters. He would have a new home. He would have a new name, Val Gaav.

"Owww…" Val moaned as his mind broke free of one nightmare and shifted to a waking one equally terrifying. "Xelloss? Milgasia? Hey! Where are you?! Can you heeeeeeeeeeeeeeaar meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Clasping a limp arm to his chest, he tried to sit up. "Gahhhh…"

A drizzle of blood dripped from his forehead onto his torn and dirty jeans. He released the arm and put a hand to his head, "Shit…A lump the size of ma brain…" 

He wiped off the blood with his sleeve and tried sitting up again. "Ugh… What's with my arm? My shoulder… ugh… I hope I didn't break anything…"

He tried calling more, but the only answer was his own desperate voice echoing back from the semi-darkness.

"Where in the seven hells AM I?" he wondered aloud. Then his hand touched a loose object. It was a child's toy, red with two balls that clinked together; his toy. Yes, now he knew where he was. He was in a cavern below the temple. "Well, now… I guess it wasn't all a bad dream, just bad…"

~*~

Milgasia had painstakingly removed hundreds of pounds of loose shale rock from around his lower body to free himself at last. It was clear that he had compound fractures in at least one of his legs and was lucky to be alive. Xelloss' dark form was resting nearby. The slow rise and fall of the kid's chest assured him that he was still alive, hopefully with only minor injuries. Val. He had no idea where that kid was. He had been right behind him when the mountain side gave way, but now…it was a new landscape and Val was not a part of it.

"Hope the car's safe," Milgasia sighed. No matter what, without a car they would be trapped here a very long time and looking at his shattered leg the man knew that without medical treatment fast, he'd be in serious trouble.

Inch by inch, he clawed his way over to Xelloss' still figure. Dragging both worthless legs behind him was exhausting. "Xelloss? Hey, kiddo…wake up!"

"Eh? Oh…whaaa…" Xelloss groaned and shook off the brain-muddying confusion. "Milgasia! Y-your legs…"

"Are broken. Yes, I can tell and before I pass out, you have to get me to the car. Can you do that? I ripped up the rest of my shirt to cover your arm…DON'T look! I stopped the bleeding but once you start moving it will probably start to ooze. Can you stand up again?"

"Ah, I guess so, if I did once… Val, where's Val?" Xelloss gasped as he finally took in the new topography.

"I-I don't know. I've been calling for the past hour or so, but he hasn't answered."

"I gotta look!" Xelloss screamed. Before Milgasia could stop him, he scrambled to his feet and started running, or trying to, and calling for Val.

Ten minutes later, returned to Milgasia, his hysterics barely under control. "He- He's gotta be here…someplace!"

Milgasia didn't answer.

"Hey! Don't YOU leave me!" Xelloss cried frantically. 

Milgasia opened his eyes, now dull and passed a glazed look toward the car. "See if the car's okay, then come back for me."

"Car? Oh, yeah…what about the keys? Val had the keys! We have to find him!"

"No, I drove last, remember? I have the keys in my pocket, here, see if you can find them while I … Yes, there. Now go. Hurry, but be watchful for loose rocks!" Milgasia warned, then leaned back onto the sharp stones hoping he wouldn't pass out before Xelloss got back. 

"I never realized what an excitable young man he was…" Milgasia thought to himself. "I guess it was that other one, Zelgadiss, with the cool composure…"

"Wake up! WAKE UP! Can you put any weight on that one leg? Let's try… The car's fine…"

Sometime later, hobbling and dragging, the two men reached the car. Xelloss opened the side doors and hauled Milgasia across the back seat. "Are you…oh, I can see you're not okay. I'll just start the car and…oh… I can't d-do this."

Xelloss pulled out his cellphone with a shaking hand, but it was unmistakably dead. Either it was damaged or the transmitting towers were too far away to pick up his signal. 

One look at Milgasia and he knew that he was going to have to find a way safely down the 'road' by himself and find help—fast! And Val? Gods, what had happened to him? Please don't be… buried under all that rock… please…

"Xelloss?" Milgasia groaned from the back. "You must get started. Pull yourself together and drive. I know you can do this! I know you've been trained to cope with worse situations than this under stress. I can't drive or even sit up to help you find a path, but if we delay much longer it will start getting too dark to see at all! Understand?"

Xelloss nodded and brushed away tears brimming his eyes, "Okay…"

~*~

"All right, we've checked his ID. He's who you say he is and is in the ER. He'll be taken care of. You, on the other hand, had better get your face out of town before the sheriff comes and arrests you for assault!" the young woman warned Xelloss. "I'm sorry. I can see that you're hurt as well, but if I treat you, I could lose my job and…I mean it, there will be a sheriff here any moment and you had better be out of his jurisdiction."

Xelloss hesitated. He was one of the good guys now and didn't deserve to be treated this way. Seeing his doubt, the ER technician clarified his position, in the eyes of the town, "Every clan under Cephied knows you were responsible for the destruction of several White Shrines and then placing the blame on us only months ago. I don't understand why you're travelling with that clan leader, but you are in danger and he is unable to protect you."

"Thank you for your kindness," Xelloss muttered through gritted teeth. "But whatever lies you have heard about me are just that. Lies. Just make sure that that man gets the best of care."

Xelloss turned his dirt-streaked face away from her and considered his options. Milgasia would be safe here in clan territory. It wasn't his clan, but they were not openly hostile towards him. Val, what could he do for him? The sheriff MIGHT launch a search party, but not at HIS request, that was certain. He'd have to back track and find the first town out of clan control. Then what? Call…Mayor Phil of Seyruun, for one. Filia, McGywn… Whoa…Who's that?"

Xelloss slowed to a stop and watched two guys leave the bus depot carrying a large, long package and little else. They were not clan and he recognized them as two of Val's old friends. He lowered the window and called, "Jillas! Gravos!"

The two oddball characters trotted over. After trading very little information back and forth with one another, Xelloss barked, "Cut it out! I don't care what you're doing here, actually. I need your help. Val needs your help!"

Instantly the 'cool' charade was dropped and the two punks were jumping into the car and slamming doors. Xelloss explained what he could, but the part that stuck in their heads was that Val was lost around or under a rockslide.

"If I can get to a phone, I can get helicopter support here eventually, but first it's closer to drop you off near the fall so you can start searching before it gets too dark. The problem is, there's no place for you to stay out there…" Xelloss sighed in frustration.

As it turned out, the guys had a 'camp' in the mountains and a map. They were prepared for an overnight, they insisted, even though they had no packs or provisions. Xelloss' suspicions were roused, but he was quickly running out of options. 

"Oh, yeah? Well, I won't ask questions. I'll drop you off here. I can't get much further up the road and the bridge is out. I'm not comfortable with just leaving you guys out here by yourselves like this, but…anyway. Do you can see the temple up there? Somewhere between it and that dark notch in the cliff is the slide area where I last saw Val. Ah, good luck and I'll send back-up as soon as possible!"

It would be sometime before he'd meet up with them again.

~*~

"Lina, I can't help thinking how similar our families once were," Amelia said in a reflective mood as they waited for their turns to shower.

"Yeah?"

"You and I, we had older sisters who were very out-going, taking paths that lead them to separate from the rest of the family. Our mothers were mild-mannered and weak, while our fathers were strong, brave, justice-seeking men!" Amelia cried, her little fist held high.

"Ah, yeah…"

"My mother died… of cancer… after a lengthy illness. It was awful. Miss Gracia and I were each holding a hand when she… Just. Stopped. Breathing. To feel death just take hold of a person and then simply… leave her body so void of…content and purpose and meaning. I can barely remember her, Lina, but I remember her death with all the clarity of what I ate for breakfast that morning." 

"Maybe it was just as well that I didn't witness my father's death in Sairaag," Lina said in a lowered voice. "I gotta pretty good memory of our last meal too. Um, speaking of meals… Hey, Nahga! We want some of that hot water too! And I want dinner soon!"

"That's right!" Lina grinned, pushing past the dripping girl a head taller than herself. "MY turn!"

"Well, don't think that any of MY great beauty's gonna wash off onto you, short-stuff!" Nahga shouted after her. In a lower voice she added, "Though I have to admit, she'd got great hair…"

~*~

Xelloss drove by the gas station twice before deciding he had to fill the tank, regardless of the risk he might be taking. His cellphone still was silent, so after handing over a $50 bill with instructions, 'fill it', he trotted over to the pay phone.

"Come on Mayor… Ah…shit… the answering machine…Okay. Ah, this is Xelloss and I'm in trouble. Milgasia's in the hospital in the town nearest the Ancient clan's land but they think I'm evil incarnate and won't let me stay in town and Val's…g-gone, missing in, in a rock slide and send a helicopter please if you get this message in the next couple of hours…or start writing my obit if you don't…"

"Okay, another coin…Zel? Why aren't you answering? Okay, Nels Lahda, surely you…another damned answering machine, all right… McGywn? Hi, Mr. Officer-of-the-Day, it's Xelloss, can you hear me? I need to speak to officer… um, no…Detective McGywn, immediately. Yes, it's urgent! Can I hold? Well, not really… Huh? It's gone dead? What the…? Oh…"

A meaty hand clamped a pair of manacles around his wrists while two other gnarly pairs gripped his arms.

"I've been per-son-ally waiting to get my hands on this one, eh?" meat-hands chuckled humorlessly.

"Oh, yeah, question is, do we take him in now or force a confession outta him right now?" hissed gnarled-grips.

"Captain said ta bring him in to him first," answered meat-hands.

"Fine," sneered gnarled-grips, clearly disappointed. 

Xelloss was pushed into the back of the police car, driven the five blocks to the station, then yanked out by his sore arm. The wound reopened and blood seeped through the makeshift bandage. Xelloss could feel the dampness and he had a choice. Look and escape the torture, for a short time, or not. He looked and fainted on the floor of his jail cell.

~*~ 

Zelgadiss pushed some wiry hair out of his face and looked up at Gourry, noting, "You know, without Lina around you have a lot to say and some interesting ides."

"Heh, heh…Yeah? Well, _with_ Lina around the blood just leaves my brain, I guess," he smiled.

"I WONDER where it all goes?" Zel said with a wry smile, then catching himself, blushed and stuttered, "I-I can't believe I said that!"

"Ho! It's okay, Zel, without Lina around you're a pretty funny guy!" Gourry's sunny smile faded as his considered their current situation.

"How about Filia? Doncha think Val woulda called _her_ fer sure," Gourry wondered.

"Right…I'll try…Filia? Hey, Zel here. Yes, fine. Say, have you heard from Val? No? I can't reach them. What? Listen, McGywn's here, would you tell him all that? Hold on…" Zel passed the phone to the detective, saying, "They haven't checked in for days…"

Gourry's eyes met Zel's. "We better call the mayor and get that address in Utah. Lina and Amelia…they're gonna need ta know if there's trouble."

"Yes, we should," Zel agreed.

A junior officer got out of the patrol car, "Detective? When you're done here, there's a call for you. Rather urgent from some zealot guy."

McGywn nodded and finished his conversation with Filia. "Zelgadiss? Here, take this. It blinked a few times but I didn't know how to pick up an incoming call without disconnecting my call," he said by way of apology. 

The detective then grunted over to the patrol car to take up the waiting call. "Zealot guy? You couldn't possibly mean a young man named Xelloss, could you, officer?"

The young officer, blushed and muttered, "I didn't hear. The call was very broken up, Sir. Sorry, Sir…"

Zel was having his problems too, "Oh…missed a call…hmmm, don't recognize the call number, though probably some advertiser. No message either. So, I'll call Lina at…where? Oh, yeah…Mayor Phil's…"

McGywn cursed softly under his breath then hung up the telephone in the patrol car. "Well, it might have been Xelloss trying to call, but the signal… well, it was lost. It seems that our friend, Milgasia, and his two fellow travelers may have gotten themselves into a wee bit of a bind out there. I'll see whom we have to spare to send out that way…"

Zel was nodding while trying to get a call through to Mayor Phil. "Listen, this IS an emergency…No, Miss Amelia is NOT in danger, but… just tell him Zelgadiss has to talk to him… 'Z' 'E' 'L' … that will do, he'll know who you mean…please…thank you," Zel sighed.

He looked exasperated, turned his head toward Gourry whispering, "Amelia leaves town and the whole city shuts down…YES! I'm here (where else WOULD I be?)! I'll wait. I'll wait! I'm on a cellphone so…"

"Hello? Mayor Phil? Zel, here. Thanks for doing this. Well, it seems there might be a problem, we needed to talk to Lina, and since she's with Amelia, we were hoping you'd have a number…

"Yes, I know it's not a REAL emergency, it MIGHT be, though. I'm here with Gourry and McGywn and the Red priest's staff has been stolen and Filia says Milgasia, Val, and Xelloss haven't checked in like they were supposed to…

"What? No, I promise not to get your daughter into some kind of trouble. Neither one of them! Oh, come on… I really need to… Gourry HAS to talk to Lina and the detective was needing to ask her about this, um… big axe we found. Okay, I promise. Thank you Sir. Yes, I will. Good bye.

"Shit, I hate having to lie to that man," Zel complained.

"But ya didn't, did ya?" Gourry asked.

"I told him I wouldn't let Amelia get into any trouble, but you know Amelia. If she wants to get into the mess, she'll do it! What I want is of NO consequence to that little girl. And HE knows it! He just wants ME to be responsible for her when he knows that he CAN'T handle her EITHER!"

Gourry put his hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter, "Sorry, man, but… ah… you sure look funny when yer all pissed off and mad and all…"

"Mad? I'm not mad, I'm 'put out'! All right, now let's see how the girls are doing. Let's hope I don't get… Ah, hello, this is Zelgadiss, I'm calling to speak to…"

"Oh, ho ho ho hooooooo! Hey LIIIII-NA, it's your little boyfriend! Hell, how would I know which one? Oh, yeah, he did say… Zel-bob! Oh, well, while she's on the way, tell me, are you gonna come visit me too? This is an all-girl ranch, but we could fix you up and, oops!"

"GIMME THAT!" Lina screamed too close to the telephone. "Zel? You there? Sorry 'bout that, I was just getting out of the shower… Zel? You okay? Is that you moanin'?"

"My ears, Lina! Between her laugh that can skin the sheathing off a nerve fiber, and your shout which you know can wake the dead, I might be getting that ringing back any second," he moaned.

"Oh, cut the crap, Zel. What's up? If it isn't romance, I'm listening."

"Lina. This is me."

"Oh, right…"

"Are you dressed?"

"What kind of a question was that?" Lina snapped.

"Ah… We have a problem or two, but first, you must not blab about it to Amelia or her father will have my…ah…lower anatomy in a vise, all right?" Zel sighed. "I am not a prude, Lina… Gods, I should just let you talk to Gourry. Hey, you tell her!"

Gourry did his best and passed the phone back to Zel minutes later, "Ah, she wants to talk to you again. And she's, um, dressed."

Zel met Gourry's grin with one of his own as he listened to Lina give orders. "Meet you at the train station out by where? Where's that? Lina! I have things to do here! I can't be out…I don't even have a car anymore! Oh, all right. Bye." He looked up at the tall blonde smiling wistfully down at him.

"I am so dead."

Gourry smiled, "Well, ya said ya weren't interested in ever having kids, heh, heh, heh…"

~*~

"So, you were driving a vee-hi-cle registered to a Mr. Val GAAV. Now, we are very familiar out here with the name GAAV, aren't we boys? And, he bein' an old syndicate gangster from way back, well, you get the picture, doncha syndicate boy? You were drivin' one of his vee-hi-cles. You ARE Mister Xelloss Metallium son of the Zelas Metallium, late of the syndicate?" the chief of police asked. His face wore a smug expression; his cigar filled the air with herbal edginess.

"I already told you. I am a priest at the White Shrine Headquarters in Seyruun working for the High Priest Nels Lahda. I am not currently affiliated with the syndicate and had nothing to do with any shrine desecration. In fact, I was incapacitated by a head injury at the time of one of those occurrences you are accusing me of instigating. And, as a priest of the shrine, I know my rights with the Cephied Clan. I AM allowed a single phone call to my lawyer before you try and extract a confession from me!" Xelloss demanded.

"Ah, Jimmy-boy? We gotta workin' line for this-here poor boy to call his lawyer? Why, you are in luck. One call. That's all. Make it a short one," the chief of police growled through a cloud of smoke.

Xelloss, about 18 inches shorter and 150 pounds lighter than the man, slid past him to the offered telephone. 

"Thank you," he murmured to the young officer, Jimmy. He patted his pants pockets, panicking a second when he thought they'd taken that envelope when they stripped him of his keys, cellphone, and identification. His fingers found the tightly folded wad pushed deep in his pocket, and he relaxed a little. Pulling out the paper and unfolding it quickly, he glanced at the scribbled number in code. Yes, just as he'd memorized it, but he was so shook up that he had been afraid to trust his current memory with his one-and-only chance to escape unharmed from the place.

He dialed the number and counted the rings. The pick-up came on the tenth one.

"Ah, hello, it's me… Xelloss. I-I need your help, please. Yes, I know… yes, I agree. I'm being held in jail in the Ancient Clan settlement. I'm injured and…yes, they are standing about five feet away from me. I understand. Thank you. Bye."

He hung up the telephone, counted to ten, then in a blur of motion, ducked and rolled past the men and under a desk. The police officers snapped to action at the moment a bomb blasted through the front of the station, shattering the windows and scattering paper, chairs, and men. Xelloss crawled out from under the desk and hopped athletically over piles of debris to the door. A helicopter, presumably the one that had fired the explosive, dropped to the street. His purple hair whipping wildly in the air, Xelloss skipped the short distance to the awaiting aircraft, and climbed aboard.

Settling into his seat, a slender tanned arm helped strapped him in. "Oh, my dear, you are such a mess! What have you been doing?"

"I, um… hello, mother…" he smiled and closed his eyes. "We had a bit of trouble…"

~*~

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:~ Val's Dream ~:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: 

It was madness, and he was the cause. The center of the maelstrom, dark and ominous, Val Gaav was threatening to destroy the world. Below him stood his friends, fearful, one in particular attempting to appeal to his supposed goodness, somewhere hidden deep within his core being. Filia. Filia was begging him to take her, to take out all his anger and violence on her and her alone. It was her fault, wasn't it that his family was killed? 

But was it Filia dressed in a flowing pink cape and gown? Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadiss, even Xelloss was there, but dressed in strange costumes, all with capes. He blamed Filia and her people, but he also hated Lina and cursed her for killing Gaav! Like that ever mattered to him! 

Gods, look at him! He was a monster for sure, arms transformed into massive, black-scaled limbs ending in dangerous clawed fingers. Enormous black-feathered wings sprouting from his back. He looked to be in great pain. His breath coming in gasps from an open mouth filled with sharp fanged teeth. And what was with that ugly horn growing out of his head?

Why was I screaming and yelling at my friends? Why was I so damned mad? Insane. I was insane! I'm dreaming that I've gone insane and am about to kill the love of my life and all my dearest friends. Well, why the hell not the entire world, while I'm at it, eh? Sure, yeah! End it all!

. 

Val reflected on his dream, shaken and not a little disturbed. Why would such terrible things be lurking in his poor befuddled brain? It tore him up to remember… It was as if he had been through a dark looking glass, at a dark reflection of the person he could have been, if not…if not for what?

Where were his friends? Why hadn't they rescued him?! His shoulder was swollen, stiff, and either dislocated or broken. He held his useless arm close to his chest, shivered, and cried. He cried out in pain, and anguish. He was afraid. He didn't want to die this way, not yet when his life was just getting to be interesting.

Filia. He wondered if she was thinking about him. Was she really the 'love of his life'? Had he thought of her that way before? Surely not about anyone else! Well, was she that important to him? Why not? He could admit that he in fact was capable of falling in love, now that he was about to die… She was worth it all, wasn't she? Gods, to hold her now and tell her just once how much she meant to him, that would be…as Zel would put it… nice.

Yet, he was depressed about Filia and her cousin. He shouldn't have left her with him. He's civilized and clan-bred through and through. No dark past, no shady background, no evil secrets. Julian was perfect for her, and now there would be no Val in the way to hinder him anymore. Gods, he hated the guy! Hell, even Xelloss, yes, he would rather think of him dating his Filia than that…Julian.

It's hopeless. No one will find me down here. I'm the last of my kind and here I shall die. With nothing. 

I never deserved anything. I never really fit in… even Lina dismissed me. I was never good enough for her, either. What did it all bring me? They killed my stepfather…I mean, HE wanted me, back then.

She's responsible for being part of the mess to begin with, Lina… her and that other guy… Xelloss…

I'm so cold… and hungry…

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Seven. ~*~


	8. Chapter 8

**__**

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

The Slayers: Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel

Part Eight

Rezo was comfortable. He had his place and someone to take care of him, but not fuss about or expect anything from him in return. He missed his 'boys' at times, but not that much; he did like solitude. His favorite midday task was to write. He had an article for he Chemistry Proceedings to complete, and the paper for the Scientific Seyruun required one more edit, he thought.

His work was progressing as expected, until he noticed the sound of swift footfalls pass by the front window. A moment later he heard scrabbling noises at a back window and then a faint rattle at the back door. 

Not easily panicked, the blind man rose from his chair and quietly tip-toed to his bedroom, where he removed a long staff. 

Crash! 

Well, there went a window. He sighed and pulled out his cellphone (purple, with an inscription from Xelloss that read: 'Fourth time's a charm!'). With a single tap, he placed a call to the police. "Yes, this is Professor Rezo Greywords. Someone is breaking into my house currently. No, I didn't, you see, I'm **blind**… Thank you very much. That's a relief. I'll stay in my room until they come."

He punched another button, muttering under his breath, "McGywn? Rezo, here. Yes there's trouble! Someone's broken a window and is now getting into my house… NOW! You bet! Not if I get to him first! Well, all right, better hurry, then!"

Ring, ring… 

No sooner had he disconnected from one call on his cellphone, than his bedside telephone rang.

"For the love of the gods… Hello? Who is this? I'm in the middle of a robbery here! Who? Vurumagen?" Rezo said exasperatedly. 

Meanwhile, at the other end of the house, Sirius caught his foot in the drapery at the window, causing him to trip over the armchair, and settled, finally, on the floor with a thump. "These fancy Seyruunians with all their decorations…" he grumbled to himself.

"What's that noise? The telephone…someone picked up the call… Someone is at home? The woman left… A car's pulling up out front…" Sirius used the torn cloth to shield his arm as he chipped away at the glass shards, enlarging the hole he'd made on his entrance. He heard a knock at the door and a voice of someone entering the house. Climbing out the window, the tall man leaped the bushes and fence to the neighboring yard and safety.

~*~

Beep! 

"Yeah? Luna here, make it quick, I'm on my way out. Unless you're one of my baby sissy's friends, then hang up and go to hell!" the phone answering message screeched in the clan leader's ear.

"Ah, Luna… this is Milgasia. If you are at home please, for Cephied's sake, please pickup…It's an emergency of the highest order!"

Luna put down her MARS shoujomanga and picked up the phone, "Milgasia? You sound like you're callin' from a tin can at the bottom of Seyruun Lake. Tell me about the problem."

Milgasia shuddered as the tension and worry fled his body, "I am in the hospital and the two youngsters I was travelling with are in grave danger, Val and Xelloss…" He continued to sketch out the accident as he remembered.

"…So, a search party for Val must begin at once, by members of OUR clan. You have the authority to command the clan guardians as our Knight, correct? Good. Then you'll need to begin that at once. I will be incapacitated here for sometime. Next, Xelloss. I have no idea what has happened to him, but he may try to contact his friends," Milgasia suggested.

"Yeah? Well, Xelloss…I don't need to worry about him. But…Val? I'll start with your clan then sissy and her mostly-male entourage. Rest and give me your number there…Yeah, I'm on it!" Luna said a few more words of encouragement then hung up.

She called the Ul Copts and reached Julian, "To whom am I speaking? Julian? Who the hell are you? Oh, never mind--is Mr. Ul Copt there? Do you know what a code orange alert is? Good, kid, then I can use you, huh? Who am I? I'm Luna, the Knight of Cephied and I'm calling a code orange alert. I need a search party prepared to enter the Ancient Clan territories by… ASAP! I'll be back on the details. Got that, Captain? Pass on the message then soldier!" 

Next, she dialed Lina's cellphone, "Of course you won't be answering…Lina, pick up!"

Ring, ring! 

"Hey! Lina here… I'm getting mostly static…ya gotta yell louder! Amelia here, you take it, probably Zel with some lame excuse…" Lina handed off her cellphone to her friend.

"Ah, hello?" Amelia whispered, then listened to the cellphone call just in time to catch the last few words.

Click! 

"Oh, Miss Lina! It's wasn't Mr. Zelgadiss AT ALL! It was your big sister, Miss Luna!"

"B-B-Bi sssssister? What did she want?"

"That's just it! I couldn't understand much. It's this train. If I had the political clout, you can be sure that there would be cell phone towers EVERYWHERE with no interference! Yes, this will be my new CAUSE!" Amelia cried.

"Ah, that's just great, Amelia…but what was the message?" Lina pressed.

"Oh, she said 'JUST DO IT! …uh… BIG SISTER!' …Um…that was it…" Amelia smiled meekly.

Miles away…Luna rubbed the stress points at her eyebrow ridge. She hoped her wild sister would do the right thing and stay out of trouble this time. If Lina would simply stay at Amelia's for a few days and stay out of this clan trouble. Yes, if she would **_just do it_** this time. 

Her attention was snagged by the appearance of a lone, tall dude with gelled blue hair strutting down the middle of her street like he owned the place. "Who is that creepy lookin' guy? For Cephied's sake, the neighborhood's going down fast if punks like that are moving in. Whoa, another one and that one has pink hair. All right, guys, now you've got Luna interested and on your tail!

Luna covertly tailed both Erulogos and Sirius as she surreptitiously hid behind hedges, trashcans and parked cars, until the odd pair separated at Gourry's family home.

She stuck with the 'pink' one and caught him breaking into a basement window. "Ahem, unless you've got their permission to do that, I think you'd better clear out!"

Sirius froze. He turned slowly toward the young woman standing a few feet away and stared. What had caught his eye was not her beauty, or lack of it, but the pendant dangling from her neck; it just screamed 'KNIGHT OF CEPHIED' in twelve of the most popular languages.

Sirius muttered something low, which might have sounded something like, "For the love of Volphied…" then, ran for his life, alerting his comrade at the front of the house on the way.

Luna flipped open her cellphone (purple with an inscription which said: "Mine…or yours? – Xelloss). "Is this the Seyruun police station? Yeah, I'd like to report an attempted break in…"

~*~

"Hello, this is Priest Nels Lahda speaking. How can I help you?" the man asked. He was hoping for a call from his wife or daughter from Tokyo. He missed them both each evening at dinner.

"This is the Sheriff of Clan County. Do you have a young priest appointed to your shrine by the name of Xelloss Metallium?"

The priest suddenly felt ten years older. These were the kinds of calls he always dreaded. Milgasia and Val were with Xelloss, weren't they? What could have gone wrong, for cryin' out loud?

"Yes. He is a priest in our shrine. Why? He did WHAT? I don't believe you! What was he doing there, and where are his two companions? Vagrancy? I don't understand this at all… No, I'm not honoring any clan-shrine agreements over liabilities without a third party report. Now, first off, I'd like to speak to the young man…

"He's gone? Where? You don't know!? Someone reported seeing a helicopter? Listen, this is beginning to sound like a crank call or a hoax. Give me your number…where you can personally be reached later today and I will get back to you. Yes, I'll be looking into this immediately. Good bye, Sheriff."

Visibly shaken by the outrageous call, the head priest reached for his cup of tea. Empty. He picked up his telephone and punched intercom. "Becky? Please connect me with the police… no, with Detective McGywn directly, and… I really need a fresh pot of tea to go with that. Thank you, dear. No, I'm not all right, but it seems that I am sharing that uneasy state with several other people currently. Well, it seems Xelloss is being accused of blowing up a police station in some obscure town on the edge of the Ancient Clan Settlement. True? The Gods only know…"

Becky gave her kind boss a hard look, "I think I'll put some of that Jack Daniel's in that tea for you…"

**__**

Detective McGywn had had a busy morning. His afternoon was getting busier, and now his evening was looking to be a hornet's nest of activity from the city-state of Seyruun to the farthest reaches of the Clan County. He was at Rezo's place when he finally hung up with Nels Lahda. 

"Rezo, you won't believe the call I just received. It was from Nels Lahda…"

~*~

"Ah…um…Zel? I gotta go back home and drop off this truck. Dad needs it. Wanna come along? Yeah, why doncha. We'll figure out how ta get to the train station and pick up the Lina and Amelia," Gourry suggested.

"Fine. We might want to pick up lunch too," Zel suggested.

Gourry raised an eyebrow, "Food? You're thinkin' 'bout food? Ah… my mom's cookin' IS real good, isn't it? I'm sure she'll have somethin' for us ta eat."

"Look! That's Filia out front!" Gourry pointed out as he parked the car in his driveway.

  
She looked frantic. Her usually carefully coifed and dressed state was now a disheveled mess.

"If you say so…" Zel answered, shaking his head at the apparition flying towards them.

"WHERE'S Lina?!" Filia wailed.

"Arriving at the train station in about twenty minutes. How did you get here?" Zel asked dryly.

Her expression said 'Who the hell cares?!'. "I got a ride from the settlement. Val is in BIG trouble…lost in…in… a … r-rock slide!" 

Gourry caught her as she wilted into a sobbing, limp, mass of hair and limbs.

"Filia? Once you told me that the train runs through the county and connects the clan settlements. Is that true, even the Ancient's?" Zel asked in a low voice.

"I-I think so," she gasped between hiccups.

Zel flipped open his cellphone and dialed a number. "Zangulus? I need a favor. Can you drive me and and couple friends to the train station to meet Lina and Amelia? Filia and Gourry. We're at his place; know where that is? Right, then… Thanks."

"Gourry, grab the…_things _in the back of your truck. Have anything to wrap them in? Yes, the canvas tarps will do," Zel said. "I'll be right back."

Zel found Mrs. Gabriev in the kitchen making sandwiches. 

"Hi, Zel. I knew Gourry and you'd be coming by so I've packed you some food…" she said softly.

Zel stood wide-eyed, gazing at the cooler and crate of sacks on the floor.

"Luna called. I guess some very creepy individuals have been casing the neighborhood looking for something," she stared at Zel momentarily.

"Oh. I didn't know. The family heirlooms, I think, are in danger. The Red Priest's staff was stolen and…" he wasn't certain what to tell her. He'd never had a real mother to open up to and share his concerns and triumphs.

"Zelgadiss. It's all right, dear. I know that you and my son will do the right thing. Take the remaining treasures and hide them well. Are you meeting Lina too?"

"Yes. Filia wants us to go to find Val. Something has happened to him, them, Val, Milgasia and Xelloss. I think we'll take the train there. We… we'll be gone a day or two at least. Um… phones won't work out there, cellphones need transmission towers which were never installed in the outer counties, so if you don't hear anything, it doesn't mean bad news," Zel said in a measured tone.

"I see. Well, all of you should have enough to eat for a couple meals anyway. Don't worry, I'll let your father know what's going on, now scoot if you're going to make the train to outer county sector," she said smiling and closing the lid on the cooler.

"Thanks, Mrs. Gabriev," Zel muttered and hauled the cooler outside. "Gourry! There's a crate to haul inside, all right?"

"Yeah!" he said. He unwrapped Filia from around his waist and loped into the house and back out in a minute. "Ready!"

Zangulus pulled up at that moment and helped load up the trunk. "You expecting Lina and Amelia to be awfully hungry when you pick them up, huh?"

"Yep!" Gourry smiled as if nothing was out of the ordinary. He pulled the red-eyed girl into the backseat beside him, allowing Zel to handle the conversation from there on out.

Once they unloaded the car and hauled the crate, cooler and wrapped '_things_' to the coffee shop, Gourry left Zel to watch over Filia while he went in search of Lina and Amelia.

Gourry, being over six feet tall with blond hair past his thighs, was easy for Lina to spot in the crowd.

"Gourry!" she cried. 

He'd already seen her flashing red hair and petite frame pushing through the throng. "Lina!"

They met in a heated rush, arms wrapping around one another, at least for a second or two until it registered with Lina just what she was doing.

While they blushed and blustered around, Amelia wandered on ahead. When she spied whom she was looking for, she cried out, "Miss Lina! There's Mr. Zelgadiss over there!"

"Well why shouldn't he be?" Lina grumbled irritably still embarrassed by her recent show of affection toward Gourry in public.

Zangulus had gone by the time Lina, Amelia, and Gourry met Zelgadiss and Filia back at the coffee shop. Filia was nearly hysterical at first, explaining her worries over Val and Julian's 'Call to Arms!' to gather a search party.

"I-I was hoping to get Luna to help, but she's busy…" Filia said wistfully.

"Miss Lina will help! Miss Luna sent her a message that said 'Just do it!' So, Miss Luna means for Miss Lina to go in her stead, I just KNOW IT!" Amelia cried out.

Zel was reading a timetable. "IF we take the one after 909…we can switch at… Yes, it's the only way. We'll be in near to Val's homeland by sundown, if we go right now."

"Yes! We will find the lost travelers and unravel the mystery of…" Amelia began.

"Not, 'we', Amelia. In order to get the telephone number where you and Lina could be reached today, I had to promise your father that you'd be home this afternoon. No adventures, no…" but he left off. Amelia was no longer paying him any heed.

"Come on, everyone," Lina called out. "We've got a train to catch to the hinterlands!"

"And beyond!" Amelia cried out running to catch up.

"You comin', Zel?" Gourry asked as he helped Filia to her feet and hefting both the '_things_' and the cooler.

He sighed in answer and bent to lift the crate. Oh, joy… 

~*~

"Rezo, you won't believe the call I just received. It was from Nels Lahda…" McGywn said with a shake of his head.

Knock, knock! 

The professor's remarks were cut short by the knock at the door. 

"Hey, Prof! You all right in there?" Luna's voice soared past three closed doors to his room.

After a minute or two, all three were setting in the front room discussing the morning's events. "Mrs. Gabriev's a bit concerned about the intruders I chased away, but she's more worried about the kids. Apparently, Zelgadiss and Gourry and possibly Filia were planning to run off to the train station to look for Val and Xelloss."

Ring, ring

The detective excused himself and took the call, "McGywn here, yes? Oh, Mayor… what's the problem? Oh. Tell you what, can you come around to the professor's house? I think we all need to compare notes. Yes, Nels Lahda too, if he's available, thank you Sir."

Twenty minutes later, Luna had reiterated the sequence of events leading up to her call to Lina. "…And Lina, although I expressly called her and told her to go home and stay home and out of trouble, must be with the boys!"

"All we know is that they were going to meet the girls at the train station. Now, I had a little talk with your son, Rezo, and he promised me that he'd see to it that my little girl made it back home."

"Did he know you meant today?" Luna chuckled. "Sorry…"

"So how did they get to the train station without a car?" Rezo asked.

"I can answer that, but first, Detective? When was the last time you had something to eat? That's what I thought, how about we order some Chinese take-out and I'll go pick it up?" Luna suggested.

"Good idea. I'll call it in and have my son do delivery. Zangulus…he's a good kid but aside from fencing and saxophone, he doesn't do much," McGywn said as he started phoning orders for food and home.

While they were waiting for the food to arrive, Luna put on a pot of tea and answered the door. Nels Lahda arrived looking the worse for wear.

"You've got good timing. Food is on the way. Why don't we all move to the dining table?" the mayor said.

"Food? Ah, without my wife and daughter around to see that I eat, I think that I have missed a meal or two today. Ah, tea, thank you, Luna. I haven't seen you since the funeral. How have you been, dear?" the head priest asked kindly.

"Last year of school coming up, then I take the bar. Can't wait to drop the waitressing job, since with the financial assistance from Zel and Xelloss I won't have to worry about expenses or Lina's college. Maybe we can borrow Zel for cooking classes," she smiled. "And Xelloss to clean up…"

When Zangulus dropped off the food, Luna asked him to sit a minute and answer a few questions."So, Mrs. Gabriev said you came by her place to drive Gourry and Zel to the train station today?"

"That's right, and Filia too. She was upset about something, though I don't think she wanted me to know. They had a huge heavy bundle, a crate of what looked like food, and a cooler. I helped them get it into the station, then had to leave 'cause I was parked in a loading zone. Zel had said that they were meeting Amelia and Lina. That's all I know. They didn't say they were going any place and they didn't have baggage like for clothes." He looked nervously at the assorted adults. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, you did fine, son. We're just trying to find out where all the other kids are now. You hungry?" McGywn asked.

"Ah, no…I mean, yes, but I'm taking Martina out tonight, in just a few minutes, in fact," Zangulus shot a look at his watch and his dad.

"Then you'd better git! Don't stay out too late, there are some hoodlums hanging around town and I want to go to sleep knowing you kids are safe at home," McGywn advised. 

His son nodded and scrambled for the door, closing it behind him.

Hearing all this, Mayor Phil had pulled out his cellphone and placed a call of his own, "Amelia? Why don't you answer? Hmmm…try this number…"

"Ah, well…I can't seem to reach my darling daughter," the man sighed and glanced Rezo's way as if he half expected him to take responsibility for his wayward son.

"I bet she and Lina have joined Zel and Gourry and Filia, now that I know Filia was present…it makes sense. I received a very troubling call from Milgasia from some remote hospital this morning…"

Both McGywn and Nels Lahda interrupted her with questions.

"Yes, I remember now. Zelgadiss' call when he was asking for the number where Amelia could be reached," the mayor was louder than everyone else. "He mentioned being with Gourry and that McGywn had informed them, just then I suppose, that the Red priest's staff has been stolen and that Filia had not heard from Milgasia, Val, and Xelloss."

"Let me speak!" Luna bellowed above the din. Seconds later they quieted down and let her tell her story her way. 

"That's better. Now, that call from Zelgadiss must have come before Filia had heard the news from me. Anyway, here's what Milgasia had to say…Apparently, there was an accident. He and the two kids were climbing down a rocky slope from the Ancient Clan's mountaintop temple, when the whole mountainside gave way nearly burying them in debris. Milgasia's legs were broken, Xelloss was hurt, but managed to get them both to the hospital, where Xelloss was refused treatment and turned away."

"What about Val?" Rezo croaked.

"They couldn't find him. Xelloss searched but had to leave while Milgasia was still conscious and there was light to see by. Cellphones do not work out there and he has very limited access to a telephone. His call to me was to get a search party ready from his clan, among other duties…" Luna's voice trailed off.

"And you haven't heard from him since? Well, let me know if he calls. At least we know something, although it's not the kind of news we wanted to hear…" McGywn sighed.

"Yes, so what I was getting at was that Filia obviously had heard the news after I call her home to convey his message. She found Gourry and Zelgadiss and I'm certain it wouldn't have taken much to get them to take off in search of their friends. A call to the train station and I'm sure a good detective could discover if five kids got on the train to the outer clan territory this afternoon," Luna nodded McGywn's direction.

He was already on it.

Nels Lahda shook his head. "I've already shared my news with the detective. At first, I thought it must be a hoax of some sort, but now…" He continued to tell the others about the phone call from the temporary Sheriff's office, the previous one being destroyed earlier and Xelloss being accused of the crime.

"They said he made a phone call and minutes later, the place blew. He escaped, they believe in a helicopter, but they have very little actual confirmation of the details from reliable people, form what I could gather. When I asked why they were holding the boy, they said pretty much that a 'Mazouku' of his renown could be picked up for vagrancy or trespassing at any time. Well, at that point I could see the kind of bigots I was dealing with and so the conversation ended with me getting his number."

The priest stopped as McGywn folded up his cellphone and rejoined the group, then added, "I tried to think of whom he might have called with a helicopter and hoped you, Phil, had been the man he reached."

The mayor shook his head, sadness filling his face, "He did try to call me. He left a message, which was accidentally misplaced until just before I came over here and collected my stack from earlier. Here it is…oh poor kid… he said that he was in trouble and I'll just read what's written: ' Milgasia's in the hospital in the town nearest the clan's land but they think I'm evil incarnate and won't let me stay in town and Val's gone, missing in a rock slide" and then he asks me to send a helicopter. Oh, dear… the airlift did not come from my office. Whoever rescued him, it was no one from Seyruun. Rezo?"

"Xelloss received a letter several weeks ago that disturbed him, but I don't know anything else about it. As far as I know, he hadn't been contacted directly by any members of the syndicate. That is who you think rescued him, correct? I'd like to think that after having his house burned to the ground, they'd have left him alone," Rezo said resolutely.

"Well, he was keeping something from his good friend Zelgadiss, maybe it had to do with that. It was bad enough for them to get in a fist fight. So, things do not look good for the kids, but we know…yes, they all got on the train… we know where some of them are. So, Luna, tell me about the clan's search party and how we can be a part of it," McGywn demanded. 

Yes, it was going to be a long night… while the kids were sleeping on the train…

~*~

Deep in an underground cavern…Val crazy with fever knew he was beginning to hallucinate when he saw two familiar figures hobbling over rough ground to his side. 

"Boss? Hey! It's Gravos! You awake?"

"Yeah, it's me here too, Jillas! You look beat up real bad there. I got ya some water, here take a drink while I take a look at that there head bump."

"Jillas and Gravos?" Val croaked after a sip of water. "Where'd you come from? How did ya find me down here? Where's everyone else?"

"Now there, boss. You juss swallow these aspirins, then lie down on this blanket and git yer some rest. It's juss us now, yer friends, like before. We'll take care of ya," Gravos assured him.

"My friends, yes… I'll lie down now," Val gasped, then sank back into oblivion.

When next he awoke, Val had a whopping headache and was unable to concentrate well.

"Hey, boss. I made ya some soup from a can, but here try eatin' this. It'll make ya feel better," Jillas said in a coaxing manner. 

After a bit, Val sank wearily back onto the hard mattress of old blanket. "Thanks… So, where'd yer all come from, or is this just another of my dreams?"

"We was juss in the area," Gravos attempted lamely.

"WE stole the Red Priest's staff and were bringin' here. Some weird dudes promised us a lota hard cash for it. We tried ta get those other swords but… anyway once we get paid we don't need ta do anythin' all year!" Jillas snorted.

"Weird dudes?"

"Yeah, real tall, taller than you and one with blue hair and another with pink. Talked funny too, clan-dudes from Europe, they said. They was snoopin' fer shrine relics and I guess we's famous or somethin' 'cause they found us right away ta do the job," Gravos said with pride.

"Or somethin',' Val mused darkly. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not. The whole situation had a supernatural aura about it; the nightmares, trauma, missing comrades, and old ones from the past materializing in the bowels of the mountain. 

"So can ya move the arm? No? Here, I've made ya a sling that'll haveta do fer now. Probably need stitches fer the cut on yer head," Jillas commented as he tied the cloth sling around Val's neck.

"So we took the train to some dingus town and bused to the next where we met up with oof!" Gravos choked as Jillas' punch knocked the air out of him.

Jillas did not want Val to know about Xelloss and any possibility of rescue from his current gang. No, he needed this semi-conscious Val to be dependent upon him and help them pull off this caper. They had all worked together well in the pass and this could make their future.

"What he meant was that we hoped at meet up with our foreign dude contacts to conclude this transaction. We have a camp in the mouth of this cave. Who'da thought you'd be trapped down here?" Jillas grinned.

Val shook his head, "So… there's a way out?"

"Yeah, but not in the shape you're in! It's night now and yer not in good shape, boss-dude," Jillas said.

"So's we set up camp closer to ya here and it's only a little ways with a fire and more blankets…" Gravos said. "Want me to help ya move there?"

Val nodded silently and the slow walk to the camp got under way. He ate more and slept all night. It was not the kind of slumber that refreshed or healed, instead, he slept poorly, with feverish dreams that slipped away with the dawn. 

At least, he was told it was morning since the gloomy cave remained locked in timeless night.

Outside, a car rattled up the far side of the mountain overlooking the Ancient Clan lands. It was a secret road not marked on the maps and, thankfully for the rider within, perfectly intact.

"This is as far as the road goes, Sir. Are you sure this is where you want me to drop you off?" the chauffeur asked. He didn't often question his fares, but he had formed affection for the tired old gentleman he'd been ferrying all over the country for the past weeks. All he could see was a neglected temple and piles of rock.

"Yes…though, it doesn't appear promising, this is the place," Almayce sighed, squinting around in the early morning sun. He hoped that that Mr. Milgasia fellow hadn't misled him about leaving with the clan kid the other day. They ought to have reached here by now; of course, they hadn't been given the same map. The Clan elder had faxed this one to him specially.

"Would you like me stay…I could accompany you part way… to ensure your safety?" Vurumagen offered.

"Would you? I should like that, young man. I am looking for a cave entrance…should be near here."

"I see it! Here, let me take your arm, there has been an earthquake or something and the path is treacherous!"

"Thank you…" Almayce said, taking the offered arm gratefully. Then the two men plunged into the darkness.

"I hear someone in the tunnel, boss! I'll check it out!" Jillas said. He yanked on Gravos' arm and pushed him on ahead of him. "Could be trouble or…one of them foreign dudes."

Vurumagen and Almayce met the two punks halfway down the tunnel. After a few minutes, Almayce realized that he was dealing with fools and marched past them to find the boy, Val Gaav. 

Vurumagen was a chemistry graduate student of Professor Greywords, currently moonlighting as a driver for a summer job. He recalled his mentor telling several funny stories concerning the antics of the 'boys' living under his roof. Yes indeed, Vurumagen had heard of the Val kid before. What was he doing in a place like this? Oh… the guy's hurt. That head injury looks serious and his arm's in a sling and… his eyes are glazed over—drugged maybe?

His thoughts were interrupted by Almayce, "Well, looks like I've come to the right place after all, my good man. I'll be staying here indefinitely so you can go on back to that larger city we passed an hour ago or so and secure us both rooms for the next couple of nights. I may need to do more travelling later."

"Yes, Sir. I'll await your call in the hotel," Vurumagen acknowledged. He turned and retraced his path back to the car. 

As soon as he was out of sight, he started to shake. He had seen a tall staff with three loose rings at the point, which was resting against one of the cave walls. That, he was sure, was the Great Red Priest's Staff he'd seen on display in the downtown White Shrine building. Again, Rezo had told him about it and it's origins. He had found the story so intriguing that he'd made several trips to the shrine to view it. So, what was it doing here, hundreds of miles away? Val had been a troubled kid, he knew, and those worthless punks he'd seen in the cave appeared to be up to no good out here. Had Val stolen it? Rezo should be told!

Once he'd driven safely back to an open road, Vurumagen pulled out his cellphone. Dead. Crap. He had to wait until he reached an area with cell towers, at least an hour or two away.

  
~*~

After stashing the empty cooler and crate in a storage locker at the Outer Clan County train station, Zel and Gourry returned to the all-vegetarian lunch bar. Amelia, Lina, and Filia were hiding the wrapped heirloom weapons under a table and sipping milkshakes. 

"Fries are on the way," Lina informed the two boys.

Gourry's hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail in an attempt to contain it the night before on the train ride. Next to him, Filia was nearly unrecognizable without makeup, fresh clothes, or neatly brushed hair. 

"I have a tiny brush, Miss Filia. Let me do up your hair," Amelia said cheerfully.

She and Lina appeared a bit wrinkled, but otherwise normal, considering that they had spent the past 20 hours or so on trains from one end of the country to the other. 

Zelgadiss was in an optimistic mood. He'd used his credit card for the first time last night to purchase the train tickets for the entire group. Power at his fingertips! The train had been over half empty, so each of them had been able to stretch out on a benchseat and sleep. Well, _he_ had slept. No Zangulus sax blowing in his ear, just the soothing hums and lulling of that repetitive 'thumpety-thump' of the train over the tracks all night.

"So, what's next? Stroll the town askin' for news about some strangers?" Gourry asked.

"We should spread out…" Lina began.

"Check the police station and the hospital," Zel added. "Xelloss and Val usually end up in one of those two places."

Lina gave him a dirty look, "We can't very well carry concealed weapons around town, now can we? Zel, you rent a car. Gourry, go with him and stow the stuff. Filia, this is clan country so you should be able to ask around and see what's up. Amelia, you and I will check the hospital. With your White Shrine Priestess credentials, we should get in. What, Zel?"

"We should stick together this time. It's too hot for me to cover up and the looks I'm getting in here alone… I don't think they'll let me get too far. Gourry could pass for clan, but what if they discover what's in the tarps he's carrying? And we can't keep in touch with the cellphones, remember that. I think it's too risky to be separated," Zel whispered.

"Makes sense. We do stand out around here, don't we? Well, if anyone asks, we're a rock band scouting for a site to film a music video, okay? It's not a complete lie. Then let's go," Lina said.

Gourry and Filia rented a car using Gourry's driver's license and all the cash the kids could come up with. With the relics hidden in the trunk, the kids felt much less conspicuous. As they cruised the main drags, the blackened scar of the blown out police station struck them as first odd, then ominous.

Zel drew as near to the yellow caution tape as possible, then got out and sniffed at some tar-like substance on a crumbled cement block. "Syndicate plastic explosives and ignition fluid, like the stuff used to take down our house. This does not bode well. However, I expect that the hospital should be our next stop, right Lina?"

"Explosions equal damage implies hospital, yeah, Zel," Lina smirked his way.

Again, Filia and Gourry were chosen to make the first contact with the hospital staff. "Milgasia's in there and we can go up and visit!" Filia said breathlessly as she ran out to the car where Lina, Amelia, and Zel were waiting.

"'Bout time we got a break," Lina growled.

Filia stepped in beside Zelgadiss, "Um, sorry, just him. No word about Val or… Xelloss."

"Let's take that as good news, all right?" Zel said in a low voice to mask his rising concern. Something felt very wrong.

Milgasia was beside himself with relief when the kids waltzed in, "Well, you're here so you've found everyone?"

Lina's blank stare and Filia's red eyes told him no. Lina was the first to speak, "Ah, Filia came crying from the settlement about Val getting' lost. Seems Julian's workin' on a search party but we couldn't wait. We also have no idea where to get started either. Gods, what happened to YOU?!"

As Milgasia started sketching out a simple map on the back of his hospital menu, he told them the story of the accident. "… and so, the last I saw of Xelloss, they were sending him off at the emergency door before the sheriff or police could lock him up."

"Well, that's a problem…" Zel sighed as he explained the state in which they found the station headquarters.

"Although… he might have gotten away. Xelloss had Val's car," Milgasia pointed out.

"Or the police may have impounded it…" Zel mused.

"You'll need a tough vehicle like that to cover the rough terrain up toward the temple," Milgasia suggested. "There's another problem we need to discuss quickly. I believe that the Clan Elder knows something about those family heirlooms of yours, boys." 

His voice dropped so that even Zel could barely hear him. "Just before coming here, I met with… an operative, named Almayce. The clan Elder called me… He virtually ordered me to aid and abet this Almayce character. He had a strange accent, European of some sort. Anyway, back to the point, this Almayce character was looking for relics, HIS, he called them. Five articles: two swords, one staff, an axe, and a bow, all with clan markings. I think we all know the whereabouts of some of those items."

"You'd be surprised," Zel smirked. 

"The Red…staff thingy was stolen," Gourry said.

"Well, I think this Almayce may be responsible," Milgasia said.

"B-but the Clan Elder wouldn't sanction the stealing of these things…would he?" Filia said shakily.

Zel gasped, "Oh, he might…I hadn't thought of this since it happened before the house burned down. Gods…"

"What is it Zel?" Lina shook him a little.

"Val, Xelloss, and I had a meeting with our lawyer, Fribrizzo. He was having a hell of a time clearing Val's inheritance from the Ancient clan through the clan elders. Apparently, he felt that the clan elders were hiding something big and were unwilling to part with any of the wealth, or whatever it might end up being in the end," Zel sputtered out.

"So what has all that got to do with my axe?" asked Lina warily.

"Axe?" Milgasia asked.

"Yeah, Gourry found it in a wood pile when he was fixin' to paint my house…" Lina began.

"And me and Zel checked. The axe, the swords… they all got those funny symbols that kinda match but look different," Gourry finished for her.

"Symbols? If I could have had a look at those, maybe I'd have recognized them," Milgasia said.

"I got better'n that!" Gourry smiled. He pulled out a bundle of carefully folded papers and handed them over to Filia's clan leader. "I did rubbings so we could compare 'em without havin' to carry them around. It's a good thing cause my shoulder's hurtin' from carryin' them soooo…ooooh, shit…" He blushed as he realized everyone was looking at him.

"Oh, please tell me you kids have brought them from Seyruun and have them well hidden,' Milgasia said beseechingly. 

Lina nodded.

"Say no more… Gourry, you're a smart kid, making these. Yes, I can see what you were referring to-- similar but different, and definitely part of a set. Now if we only had the staff and bow. This Almayce is looking for these also. He may already have stolen the staff, but the bow… I have no idea about that one." Milgasia leaned into his pillow, eyes closed. "I'm stuck here with two legs in casts…"

Zel turned at a faint sound at the room's door. He hurried to see who it was. He certainly knew how important it was for them to keep their true purpose a secret.

"Don't worry, Mr. Milgasia!" Amelia chirped up. "We'll find Mr. Val and Mr. Xelloss and solve the mystery of the lost relics as well! Because, when you choose the path of righteousness, truth, and justice you will prevail!"

"Ahem, lovely sentiments, Amelia, but would you please get off of the man's bed now? His nurse is here," Zel said in a loud voice to stall further conversation.

A willowy blond nurse smiled and announced 'bath and rest time' for the patient. "You can return between 3 and 8 o'clock tonight."

"Okay, Zel, spit it out. What's with the sly smile?" Lina asked from the crowded back seat.

"There! Can you make out the Suburban, Gourry?" Zel pointed to a cyclone fenced lot, ignoring Lina's question for a second.

"Yep, Val's Suburban. But how're we gonna get it?" Gourry asked.

"I's gots me a plan," Zel grinned. "Lina--which one of you girls weighs the least, you or Amelia?"

After an expected amount of grumbling, mostly from Filia, Amelia won.

"Good, you'll be with me. Now here's what you others do…"

~*~

Xelloss listened purposefully to the plans, his orders, shaking his head. "You MUST be kidding! You expect me to take on the Cephied Clan elder and who the… Volphied's Clan elder as well? I hadn't even heard of the Volphied Clan before! You must have me confused with some other superhero!"

"That's what you're getting paid to do, and you know, darling… I don't kid around with business," the beautiful woman crooned in a low voice. 

"And I HAVE told you about all the clan organization in Europe, you just forgot. I am given to understand that a competitive Cephied organization in Europe, under Volphied, is launching an attack on the Ancient clan territories. Apparently, they must think the land's being neglected…The keyword here is -- are you listening, dear? They are operating under the codename OVERWORLDERS. This clan elder, who is known by the name Almayce, is not alone. There are others here besides him…we just don't know who or how many."

"How can that be?" Xelloss smirked. "How can one of your people come up with such worthless information as their F~*&%^$-ing stupid codename and yet… AND YET not manage to know how many F~^(*&%*&-ing criminals are F~(*&^)*&%-ing hanging around?"

Zelas frowned, "Don't you use that foul language around me. Save it for you punk friends. My people gave their lives for that wretched information, so listen up—it's all you'll have to stay alive with out there." 

She had him silenced.

"They have already reached Seyruun where they are currently treasure hunting." She smiled.

"Now who's being funny?" he smiled in return, humorlessly.

"As far as I know, they are looking for five ancient relics from the clans. Very old and which when all five are together, have some collective power or…"

"You have been watching The Lord of the Rings, haven't you? You have it all mixed up. The relics are the weapons you use to fight the goblins and the five… you must be referring to the rings of power, though actually it ought to be…" Xelloss said chattily.

"For the love of Shabrinigdo! SHUT UP! This is serious! You know about some of those relics… the Red Priest's Staff is one… Zelgadiss' sword and that Gourry kid's family sword is as well. There is also an axe and a bow…"

Xelloss smiled and mimed tying a large bow tie at his throat.

"…as in bow and arrows. You must gather all the relics in the Ancient Clan settlement," she continued.

"Yes, and defeat numerous clan leaders, outwit my friends, turn Val to the dark side and what else while I'm at it would you like me to do, mother-dear? Get married and provide you with many grandchildren to despoil, I mean, spoil?" he hissed. 

He was incensed with the whole thing. He resented having to owe his own mother a 'job' and felt that he'd simply be throwing his life away again on a half-baked plan with scant intelligence and faulty expectations.

"If you'd rather, I could send you packing to your crazy aunt's hideaway. I'm told the Dauphin D.S keeps a stunning stable of young eunuchs. And she's always looking for a new one," she snapped.

Xelloss blanched.

Zelas returned to her briefing. "The syndicate in Europe has an upstart competitor which has taken an interest in these Volphied people. They are funded by Shabrinigdo's bastard brother…known only by the codename… DARKSTAR." 

She took a drag on her smoldering cigarette, then snuffed it out on the bottom of her hip boot. "All right, the codenames are crap, I'll give you that, but hear me out. WE must get the relics first, before we attract that organization to Seyruun as well."

"So, armed with all this terribly fascinating information, which simply by being acquired brought death to the agents, I am supposed to do what exactly? Oh, and am I expected to survive? Really, so how do you propose I go about pulling off this caper and living to tell you about it later, hmmm?" Xelloss smirked. "Or are you going to keep that all a secret?"

Zelas contemplated her son for a moment. When had he developed into such an independent, outspoken, and disrespectful young man? Lina and those other kids were to blame, obviously, although, she admired his boldness and daring as well. And not so young anymore… his shoulders were wide and hard muscles moved beneath his shirt. His eyes had lost that furtiveness. He was a man finally and with some work, he'd take his place in the syndicate soon. The openings were there. 

~*~

Lina, Gourry, and Filia were affecting a rock band persona testing out the local police car impound lot for a video recording. There were only two attendants, both young men and both very bored, until now. Lina put on a 'cute' act that entranced one of the men who'd never seen a tiny redhead like her before. The other young officer couldn't keep his eyes off Filia, truly a long-legged clan-girl from the city. Gourry kept up the charade as best he could, sneaking a peek at Zel's progress from time-to-time.

Earlier, Zelgadiss had whipped out a pair of wire clippers from the back of the rental car, and now was clipping the fencing from the ground to a few inches of the top, avoiding a security wire running the circumference of the lot. Amelia watched his back for trouble. She could hear Lina and Filia break into a song, but from their crouched position, her friends weren't visible.

"Amelia," Zel whispered. "Now, I'm going to bend this back a little and crawl under and over to the car. I won't have any problem breaking into the car, but getting it started might set off an alarm. Whether or not it does, by the time I've run through the fence, I'll have set off at least one security notification. I want you out of here and far away by then. Remember where we parked the rental? You're to meet the other's there. "

"So why did it matter how much I weighed?" Amelia asked.

"It didn't. I just used that as an excuse to have you over here," he answered. 

Hers eyes went wide. He wanted me by his side?

"Listen, take this," he said as he handed her an envelope from the train station. "It's a ticket back to Seyruun, some cash, my lawyer's number, and a quick sketch of the way back from here to the station, in case you weren't paying attention."

She refused to touch it, and looked at him hard, "I'm not abandoning our friends, or you."

Zel sighed, "Amelia, I made a promise to your father not to let you get into trouble. He trusts me to keep my word. You know what that means to him, don't you? By now, he may have discovered that you're not with Nahga and that Lina has taken off with Gourry and me. He'll be worried to death. You know that, Amelia. He won't let us…do things together any more. Maybe not let you stay with the band. Understand?"

"B-but the others? What about them?"

"I can't do this alone. Gourry's an adult and must make his own decisions now. Filia is clan and will be safe around here, most likely. Lina, well, she has only her sister's wrath to face, and that's her business. Besides, Gourry won't let her get hurt. But you…the mayor of Seyruun has no jurisdiction here, you know. Amelia… look at me. You know I'm right about all this. If there's trouble, we'll need help and knowing you are safe and on the way to bring us that help will be the only hope _I'll have_, understand? Please? I'm so worried about Val and Xelloss, I don't want your name added to that list…" his voice cracked.

Amelia was floored. "Okay…"

Zelgadiss was amazed. She's going to agree?

"It will cost you, " Amelia smiled.

Oh joy… She's learning from Lina. Zel sighed.

Swiftly, she fell onto him, one hand intertwining into his hair, the other slithering around his neck holding him in place, then kissed him. 

"Huh?" Zel thought. Suddenly he found his arms full of soft little Amelia and his lips in firm contact with hers. Whoa… he relaxed a bit, his lips softening, and felt her body fill in the gaps some more. 

What's that pounding sound? Oh? It's dark! No, my eyes are shut. When did they do that? Good thing time's stopped for everyone… 

"Mr. Zelgadiss?"

That pounding's coming from me? Am I dying? No, I heard my name, didn't I?

"Zelgadiss?"

No definitely NOT dying. Eyes. Open. Now!

"Zel, breathe!"

His eyelids fluttered open… and he drew a deep breath.

"Go on. I know you can do it! But, just in case, I'll be ready to run, like you said," Amelia smiled and backed away.

"Ah, yes, well, um…" Zel nodded, clearing his head slightly. Stealing the car, idiot, that's what's going on here. He would have chastised himself further, but time was of the essence. "All right, here goes…"

As he slithered through the small opening and parted the fence slightly up to the security wire, Amelia scampered out of sight and waited. He crawled along the ground to the car, then withdrew his lock-pick set and fiddled a moment or two. With a sigh of relief, he silently opened the car door and sneaked into the driver's seat. A quick glance to the side and he spotted Amelia. She gave him a thumbs up sign, turned and ran off.

Good girl.

He used his last trick and gave the car a start. The engine purred to liveliness—no alarm. He threw it into reverse and yanked the steering wheel hard to the right. The tires squealed and threw up dust as the car whipped around. He kicked in the clutch, put it into first gear, and stepped on the gas. Roaring with power, the car tore through the loosened fencing, over the curb and down the street before the officers had time to realize a crime was being committed right under their noses.

Filia and Lina screamed, pretending to be shocked by the noises. Gourry yelled at them to 'get away from that manic before he runs us over!' and led them out of sight toward their rendezvous spot at the rental car. Zelgadiss swung the Suburban alongside the rental, popped the trunk and loaded the tarp-wrapped weapons into the back of the Suburban. Amelia sprang from the sidewalk and hurled herself into the backseat just as Gourry literally tossed Filia and Lina in through the other door. He flew into the passenger's seat beside Zel as the car swung out onto the highway.

The officers at the impoundment lot were trying to figure out what car was missing. Someone must have neglected to enter the identification number of that vehicle correctly on the inventory sheet, or the sheet was an old one. Damn, someday they could sure use one of those automatic computer-updating databases, huh?

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Eight. ~*~


	9. Chapter 9

The Slayers: Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel

.

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Nine

"This is ridiculous! There are no signs of the Ancient's relics here in Seyruun!" the short-tempered, blue-haired Erulogos growled.

"This time I must agree with you. I have bruises in places I don't even care to know about, and not a sign… not one! I just hate to be the one to tell Almayce. He won't be pleased if we return empty handed," Sirius groused, passing a hand through his pink spiky hair.

Erulogos glared at him as he punched in his cellphone code. "He'll be less forgiving if we waste more time," he muttered to his accomplice. "Hello? Erulogos here. No. No. Very well, Mr. Almayce. We are on our way." 

He closed up his phone and grabbed Sirius by the arm. "This way. He wants us back immediately. Apparently he has need of us still."

"Let's hope so," Sirius said in a worried voice. "Or our careers will be cut short."

~*~

"So why hasn't that young fool called me?" the Cephied Supreme Elder bellowed to his assistant. "Call whoever it is he left in charge in his absence back at his clan and tell them that I have gotten no communiqué from Milgasia. Someone there will know something!"

"Y-yes sir!" his fidgety assistant shuddered and escaped to the relative safety of her desk.

A few minutes later she returned to the inner office of her superior. "I have the information you inquired about, Sir."

"'Bout time! Well?"

"Mr. Ul Copt informed me that a code orange is in effect for their clan. Apparently, Mr. Milgasia and Val Gaav are missing, and a clan alert's been called to send help to the ancient lands. A young man named Julian has organized a search party and left." The woman hesitated a moment, waiting for her elder's next command.

"Arrange for my transport immediately. I will be visiting that wasteland personally!"

"As you wish, Sir."

~*~

"All right. Does this suit you, Lina?" Zel asked sarcastically. He had parked the Suburban in a semi-hidden spot not far from both a hardware store and a grocery store.

Ignoring Mr. Attitude, Lina hopped out, "Come on, Gourry. Let's get some eats for this excursion."

"Okay, Lina…"

"I guess I'd better supervise them so we can get out of here in under an hour," Filia sighed.

Amelia agreed. Of course, that meant she'd have Zel all to herself while they shopped for a few items he thought they might need.

"We'll need lunch and probably dinner and… OH! Lookie, Gourry! SAMPLES!" Lina shouted.

"Oh, Lina for Cephied's sake! Zel and Amelia will be waiting for us! Here, just give me the cart and I'll by the food while you two gorge then…" Filia said disgustedly.

Not far away, an extremely cheerful Amelia bounced alongside a more cautious Zelgadiss. Just inside the hardware store, a crying child glommed onto Zel's leg.

"What the…? Hey, kid, what's the matter? Amelia?" he looked desperately for her assistance.

"Oh, are you lost little boy?" she asked cleverly. She thought it was cute that he'd chosen Zel for sanctuary from the scary world. The child nodded, swiping at his snotty nose with a sleeve.

"I'll help you find her. My name's Amelia, by the way. What's yours?" she smiled up at Zelgadiss as she took the boy's dry hand. "Go on and do your shopping and we'll meet at the checkout counter, okay?"

Zel nodded, mouthing a 'thank you', and hurried on to look at ropes. He chose two, one longer but both with a soft cottony touch and with strong nylon cores. Next, he picked up an emergency first-aid kit. Great progress. He hoped Amelia was done with her 'Good Samaritan' act and would meet him at the … Who, what have we here? As mature a young man that he was, Zel still had a lot of the little boy, sword-slinger-magical-dark-sorcery-wizard inside of him. As he passed a bucket displaying mop and broom handles, he couldn't resist. He quickly chose his 'weapon' and withdrew a 'sword', giving it a couple swipes and lunges. Ah, yes! The sessions with Himura Kenshin were coming back to him now!

Swish! Swoosh! Crash! Bang! Crash! Bang-gety, bang, bang! 

One false step and he'd fallen backwards into the already unfortunately-rickety display of paint cans on sale. Luckily, or not, he hadn't been knocked senseless…

Meanwhile, Amelia's kind act had met with success.

"Oh, thank you dear for returning my little boy to me. It's so hard to pick out nails and watch him at the same time," the flustered mother said. Her son clung to her like glue and watched Amelia out of the corner of one eye.

"I bet it is! It's hard enough to contain the bigger ones," Amelia grinned.

Crash! Bang! Crash! Bang-gety, bang, bang! 

"Oh! I wonder what that was?" Amelia cried out and hurried away in search of another calamity requiring an act of goodness to bring justice and honor to… "Oh!"

Not only was he in the midst of hundreds of paint cans, but Zel was surrounded by people staring at him, both curious customers and concerned store personnel.

"My Gods! What is he?"

"Is that a girl? She's got earrings!"

"You call those EARS? He's a demon!"

"Look at the skin? It's a monster for sure!"

"Oh! Mr. Zelgadiss!"

Back at the grocery, Filia was angry. "Lina! We must hurry! You and Gourry are wasting precious time! Val could be bleeding to death out there! Xelloss could be…something! Come on. I'll pay for what we've got and lets go!"

"Okay," Lina agreed, having settled the money issue. She even kicked Gourry into the checkout line to move him along a little faster. An excited exchange between their cashier and two kids just coming into the store, caught Lina's attention.

"What did you say?" Lina yelled at the kids. 

"There's a fight between an angel and a demon over at the hardware store!" they repeated then dashed back out to go watch it themselves.

Gourry seized the bags of groceries and Filia was putting away her change, when Lina grabbed her by the arm and cried out, "We'd better hurry, like you said!"

They raced down the street to where a crowd was gathering. Using Gourry like a shield, Lina pushed her way past the crowd to the center of the disturbance. As she had suspected, Amelia and Zelgadiss were there, Zel straightening out his clothes and hair.

Amelia-sweet-angel helped pick up the ropes and first aid kit. Handing them over to Gourry with some cash she said by way of observation, "Why does this always seem to happen?" 

Zel-heartless-demon appeared nonplussed about the whole mess he made. He simply shrugged as Lina pushed him toward the door and said only slightly apologetically, "I must have been a little over excited…"

Outside, Filia was fuming mad. She was worried about Val and frantic about the delays her friends seemed to encounter purposefully. Zelgadiss was actually proud of being such a standout in the conservative community, grinning and spouting all kinds of nonsense that she wasn't paying attention to or cared about. She had had enough! As soon as the car was in sight, she screamed, "I will end his now!" and smacked Zel hard enough to nearly knock him out.

Gourry had kindly paid for Zel's bag of supplies and quickly caught his friend as he was propelled to the ground by Filia's strike. "Whoa, there Zel. Why don't you let me drive for a bit while you sit in the back seat?"

Zel was too stunned to refuse and so, handed over the keys and climbed into the back seat. Amelia slid in next to him and slipped Zel's head with it's throbbing bump onto her lap. 

Gourry started the engine and sorted through the sack he'd carried to the car. Finding what he was looking for, he tossed a packet to Amelia, and laughing said, "Good thing ya got these ice packs, Zel. Who'da thought you'd be needing them first, huh?"

Zel answered with a groan.

"How did such a mess get started?" Gourry asked him, since Lina was busy scanning the map Milgasia had made for them in the hospital. 

Zel muttered, "I guess the people in this town aren't used to non-clan sorts and we stand out like sore thumbs."

Filia tensed up. Lina, sitting beside her in the middle seats, noticed Filia's hostile reaction and looked up from her reading. 

"So… what's wrong? You're not letting old nerd Zel-bob get to you now, are you?" Lina asked.

Filia strained to get a better look out of her window. "No! It's more like I just felt a wave of inexplicable anger is flowing through my body." 

Lina snorted, "Yeah, I get that feeling all the time around these guys…"

Gourry had watched where Filia was scanning the horizon. "Ah, um… I think I see a helicopter in the distance." 

Lina squinted, "Oh, yeah? Where?"

"Over by those lower hills… that gray line. Goin' down over there," he pointed toward the right.

"Yeah, mebbe. That's where we're headin'. Hey, maybe Xelloss called in a helicopter for the search, or Julian… or maybe your dad, Amelia!" Lina suggested.

Zelgadiss groaned, "Gods…please not him…"

~*~

Deep underground, Almayce had chased away Jillas and Gravos. He wanted to speak to the Ancient Clan survivor alone. He could see that Val was unwell and in need of medical attention. He regretted that he was not able to assist him at all, but that he was to interrogate him instead. Carefully.

"Hello, young man. I understand you're Val Gaav and this," raising an arm to indicate a wide area, "is your inheritance. Am I correct?" Almayce asked.

"Who the f*#^&@ are you?" Val growled in a husky voice riddled with pain.

Wincing at the verbal assault, Almayce continued, "You may call me Almayce. I am from… overseas. I can use your help looking for some very old weapons, like this one." The older man pointed to the Red Priest's staff. "Have you seen any others like them?"

"No. But…if I had one I'd shove it through yer fat, ugly gut. I don't know ya or wanna. Now get the hell outta my face," Val spat. He sat down, leaning his head back against the stone wall, and groaned at the effort it took to remain conscious.

Almayce stood his ground and waited. This kid knew something; of that, he was certain. How to extract the information would be a task more fitting for his two minions en-route from Seyruun.

Overhead, the sky was alive with the noisy activity of a pair of buzzing helicopters. Xelloss, Sirius and Erulogos arrived at the Ancient Clan temple at the same time. 

"Well, this is embarrassing, "Xelloss giggled. "It appears you have the same plans that I do!"

Erulogos frowned, "You have the advantage… priest. WE do not know YOU."

Sirius' eyes remained locked on Xelloss' ruby-orbed staff. 

Xelloss turned to him and smiled. "Cool, eh? Can't have it!" he giggled, adding to the tall, blue-haired man's torment. "Besides, it's definitely NOT what you're looking for."

Sirius was interested in the origins of his most interesting looking symbol of power. "This is your priest's staff? It's nothing like that of the Red Priest."

Erulogos growled, "Fool! Don't tell him about that!"

Xelloss smiled, "So… you ARE the guys that stole it, huh? Then it's here? How many more have you recovered then?" 

Xelloss was worried about his friends and whether or not they'd encountered these two flakes… and lost. It was clear, however, that to get more information from these two, he would need to share some of his own. "I am also looking for these same relics, but for a different master."

He revealed his syndicate pendant. "I'm sorry. I haven't introduced myself. I am Xelloss Metallium, General and Priest to Mistress Zelas Metallium of the Syndicate under Shabrinigdo. YOU are Volphied followers reporting to Almayce, correct?" 

Sirius wore the expression of one who had looked his mortal enemy in the eye and was now frozen in horror. His compatriot was a heartbeat ahead of him, removing a gun from under his denim jacket. Expecting nothing less from the men, Xelloss whipped around his staff like a bo, knocked the gun into the air, and sent it skittering behind him.

"We will not let you turn the relics over to DARKSTAR!" Erulogos howled as he gripped his stinging hand in pain.

"Ah! You misunderstand me. I have NO intentions of providing him with inroads into syndicate territory. If your plans include destroying him, then I think we can work together," Xelloss smiled at first Erulogos then the calmer Sirius man. 

They looked at each other and nodded in silent communication. "Perhaps we have found a common ground, Mr. Metallium," Sirius bowed slightly.

"Yes, indeedy!" Xelloss winked conspiratorially. "I know about the other relics, all but one and it must be here, hidden. What can you tell me?"

Erulogos frowned, "We'll take you to Almayce and let him decide how to manage this…alliance."

"Fine. Take me to your leader!" he commanded seriously, then Xelloss laughed aloud, "I've _always_ wanted to use that line!"

Almayce watched Val until he succumbed to his fever and passed out. There was nothing more to be gained from standing there, so Almayce took the concealed passageway to the surface to meet his two subordinates. They had failed him in Seyruun, but there was another chance for them to salvage their careers. Yes, he was an understanding man…

Halfway to the surface, me met Sirius, Erulogos, and, much to his surprise, Xelloss. Sirius made the introductions short, rapidly summarizing the situation presented to them—a collaboration as the lesser of two evils. 

Almayce decided that Xelloss would be easy to dispose of in the end, if he got in his way, but that in the meantime, he could offer them assistance he could use. "All right, Xelloss of the Syndicate. I believe we can agree to work together to find the lost Ancient weapon. Collecting all the relics will most certainly draw DARKSTAR away from our territories in Europe and attract him to your lands here. If you provide us with those other weapons, then we will work with you to assure his destruction, solving all of our problems. Do you accept?"

Xelloss nodded and smiled, "I think that will do nicely."

"I have a troublesome young man who passes in and out of consciousness, but who I believe holds the key to the whereabouts of the final Ancient relic. Perhaps you can help with the interrogation?" Almayce asked Xelloss.

Hoping that this could be his Val, Xelloss nodded, "Lead on!"

They found Val crumpled up on a blanket on the damp ground. Xelloss held back a gasp with difficulty. He was alive. At LEAST he was alive, but he was hurt. That was one awful head injury too, Xelloss noticed. That explained the passing-out problem. Feverish, from the pale damp skin… "This man is injured and ill. He needs fresh air and medical attention. If you want to get him to be contributive, he must be alert enough to speak. Isn't there someplace protected from the elements, but above ground where we can take him?" Xelloss asked.

"Yes. The temple is intact, if we can find the correct passage. Sirius, find those young punks and have one of them lead us to the temple!" Almayce ordered.

~*~

"Gods this place is a mess!" Lina said with disgust.

Lina and company were walking through the acres of wreckage towards the temple path up into the mountains. Fila hardly spoke at all. It was a scene of complete and total destruction of every structure that the young woman was unprepared for. Clearly, no one in the settlement could have survived such an attack. So, where had Val and his mother been? She wondered how they could have lived through such a horrendous attack. 

"Who could have done such a thing?" Amelia cried out in anguish what was on everyone else's minds as well. There was nothing 'right' about such total disregard of life; no just cause could excuse the violent assault upon these people, now wiped from existence.

"Would the syndicate do something like this?" Gourry wondered aloud.

Lina shrugged, "Who knows? Maybe, but the question is why would they? Which makes me think about Xelloss. I've been trying to figure out what Xelloss might be up to. I've got this stinking feeling that the Syndicate must be involved in some way."

"I agree, but I think you mean 'sinking' feeling, Lina," Zel agreed.

"No, Zel, I meant what I said! When it come to the syndicate, it stinks!"

"That's enough! I don't want to hear another word about that…that messed up, annoying little creep or his shitty little den of thieves and thugs!" Filia screamed. "I'll go ballistic at the mention of Xelloss again. DO YOU HEAR ME?!" 

"Yeah, yeah, Filia. Don't have kittens, all right?" Lina grumbled.

"Hey! Look up there, Gourry! Isn't that the temple Milgasia marked on the map?"

"Um…yeah and some guys are movin' around up there too,' he answered as he held his hand up over his eyes to block the sun rays.

"Too far away for me. Can you tell if they're Syndicate or clan?" Lina asked.

"Ah, I can't tell if they're guys or girls. I just see movin' specks'" Gourry said.

Filia ran her hand along a street marker, long fallen by the wayside. On closer examination, she could recognize the Ancient clan markings as well as signs of battle and blasts from merciless bombs. "I will climb to the temple, but I may not be able to enter," she whispered with an effort.

"That's one hell of a climb, guys," Lina said, reluctant to move in the hot sun. "Before we risk getting caught in another landslide, why don't we scout around for a lower entry point."

Filia moved as if in a daze, not really seeing or trying not to see any more of the horror around her. Lina decided that she wold be totally useless and didn't bother asking her to help her rearrange the sacks of food into two canvas totebags. Lina cast a worried look Filia's way, then determinedly hefted one from each arm, plucking her way carefully around the ragged stones and cursing under her breath. 

Amelia had a difficult time climbing over the larger obstacles, but tried crawling into a couple promising cave openings when asked. As it turned out, it was Gourry who noticed the unusual clan markings over a hidden archway. He and Zel had been carrying the wrapped up relics and a dufflebag of assorted 'tools' and Zel's hardware store purchases. Gourry grunted something over his shoulder and dropped the heavy weapons. 

"Looking interesting," Zel agreed. For several minutes he and Gourry worked a tree limb loose and used it to get some leverage under a boulder blocking the entrance, and roll it far enough that they could see inside what surely was a underground chamber. At last, they had a resting place out of the hot sun, a cool cave beneath the Ancient clan temple. 

Naturally, Lina wanted a bit of refreshment as well. While she, Gourry, and Amelia had a snack, Filia and Zel wandered around the cave. Zel flicked on his lighter to see how far back the cave actually went into the mountain.

"Lina! Didn't you say you checked back here and saw nothing?" His muffled voice barely registered with the others, he was so deep in the cave.

"Yeah, I looked, saw nothing and came back. What?" she sputtered through the crumbs of an oatmeal cookie.

"Amelia, can I have your pocket flashlight?" Zel asked instead.

"Where are you?" Amelia asked cautiously as she crept into the darkness.

Thunk! 

"Ah, that's me. Thanks," Zel said and removed the light from her hand. "I think this just keeps on going. It must be a subterranean passage. I've been hoping that Val was swallowed up by some underground cave and we'd be able to locate him with enough people and ropes." 

Zel knelt beside the dufflebag he'd wrestled into the cave and hauled out several lengths of rope. "You still here Amelia? Good, you can start tying everyone together so we can't get lost!" Zel tossed some rope to Gourry, whose taller outline was visible against the bright cave entrance, and handed the rest to Amelia.

Filia sniffled and clumsily stumbled over to Zelgadiss. Groping for him in the near-dark, she sent delightful, and unexpected, thrills along his skin. "AHH! What's that? Oh, Filia…" he muttered thoroughly embarrassed and glad for the darkness to hide his hot blush.

"Oh, Zel…thank you…" she whispered in his ear. She was an inch or more taller than him and it felt very strange to have her so close. He had no idea what to do or say, so he patted her reassuringly on the back and didn't move or say a word.

"Since… since I heard about V-Val. No one has wanted to say anything…everyone thinks he's dead. I know they do! They just say it! But…he's not! I don't believe it! And what you just said, that's the first time anyone's said anything hopeful! Thank you, Zel-bob, You're the sweetest!" she burbled a bit and sobbed into his shoulder.

"Mr. Zelgadiss? I need to tie this to you now, then we'll be ready. Miss Lina's leaving most of the food behind. Miss Filia?" Amelia said gently.

"It's okay, Amelia. I'm not trying to steal this hunk away from you," Filia said lightly, pushing apart from Zel. Before she moved away, however, she purred in his ear, "You know, these loose clothes hide a really nice build, Zel-bob!"

He choked and sputtered, "Filia…" and was _really _thankful for the concealing darkness now. What was it with girls and hugging anyway? Not to mention the…other stuff…Did she call me a 'hunk'? Well, fencing has a few good points. "What were you saying Gourry?" Zel asked, coming out of his head and up for air.

While Amelia tied herself to Zel, Gourry and Zelgadiss discussed various 'boy scout' methods for marking trails. They finally settled on a stone piling arrangement that would work, as long as the batteries held out on the flashlights.

"We'll only use two lights at a time," Zel began. "We have to conserve power, since we don't know how long we'll be in the dark. Anyway, the batteries should last for a couple days that way. I'll take the lead and one light, and Gourry will bring up the rear with the other. Oh, right, Lina, pass me my sword."

"Hey, shine that flashlight on me," Lina demanded. "So, how do I look?" She settled the heavy axe on one shoulder, cocked her head to the side and grinned, or at least bared her teeth.

Zel shuddered, "Um…scary, Lina. I'm going to have nightmares now about you coming at me with that axe…"

"Or Filia coming at ya…" Gourry started to say, but was silenced by a punch to the gut.

~*~

From high above the valley of destruction, Xelloss once again stood at the temple overlook, the warm summer wind blowing his loose hair at the sides. "I will attend to him for awhile. If he has anything to say, I'll let you know," Xelloss said, dismissing Almayce's people. Jillas and Gravos were allowed to stay or go at their own discretion. 

When Almayce, Sirius, and Erulogos departed to another section of the temple grounds for their own deliberations, Xelloss knelt down by the scarcely ambulatory Val.

Xelloss greeted Val jauntily, "You're a mess, but alive at least!"

"Close enough!" Val managed to smirk, recognizing the voice of a friend. 

"I see Lina and the others down below. All the players are in place!" Xelloss smiled.

"Now, I'm going to give you a quick examination to see what's going on with you," Xelloss explained as he unbuttoned Val's torn and bloody shirt.

Val's groans as he reached the limp arm signaled Xelloss to be more careful. "Apart from some bad scrapes, I can't see what's wrong with your arm…oh…your shoulder is really swollen. No wonder. Shit, you're burning up, Val! Open your eyes…dammit! Jillas, Gravos! What did you give this guy?"

Xelloss lanced them both with a killer stare that brought Gravos to his knees. "Uh, just these as-per-ins," the big dumb lug said, extending his hand and showing him a bottle.

"Are you some kind of an idiot?" Xelloss sneered. "This doesn't read 'aspirin'! This is a combination hallucinogen and depressant! With this head trauma, you could kill him! Crap, he stinks too! I thought you'd be taking car of this guy you call you friend?! You let him vomit and soil himself, give him mind-altering drugs, and barely clean his wounds? I wouldn't treat my worst enemy that bad!" Xelloss was shaking with anger. He had Gravos ready to piss in his pants and Jillas was trembling.

"Listen to me and do what I say. I came prepared with a few first aid tricks, but YOU will bring me the rest of what I need, understand?" Xelloss waited until they agreed intelligently.

"Good. First, you, Gravos. You got some clean sweat pants? Bring them here, and a shirt and socks. Jillas, bring me water and a way to heat it and some towels, blankets…NOW!" Xelloss ordered. 

When they'd nearly run one another down in order to get away from him, Xelloss continued with his ministrations. "Val, can you understand what I'm saying to you? I'm helping you sit up and I have something I want you to drink. It won't cure you, but your mind will clear up for a few minutes."

Val nodded, then sipped at the contents Xelloss poured between his lips from a small unmarked vial. Xelloss gently cradled his friend's head, then stroked his matted hair, removing chunks of rock and blood clots. As if a veil was pulled from his face, Val's eyes opened and he looked at Xelloss and knew him.

"You came," Val whispered from cracked lips.

"Sorry it took so long. I had some trouble getting here. Milgasia is in the hospital, but I think only his legs were hurt," Xelloss added guessing what questions Val wanted answered first. "Those tall foreigners are after those old weapons of Zelgadiss and Gourry. What's more, they think you know something about another one hidden here. Um, they're not the only ones. I, ah, have orders to collect them all as well, but… I'm not here to hurt you, Val, or my friends…ever, understand?"

Val nodded then cleared his throat to speak. He spoke haltingly, obviously in great pain, but Xelloss let him take his time without interrupting him. "I've been thinkin'…dreamin'. I remember this place. It was my home. Gaav took me and my mother from here. I remember… He wanted somethin'. He wanted my mother to give him somethin'. He'd beat her, but I don't think she ever knew what he meant. She didn't tell him nothin'. But I knew. Father told me."

So Val told him about a diagram on a removable panel of a trunk that his mother took from the temple when he was child. Gaav tried to get information from her, but she was unable to tell him what he wanted to know or help him find what he was searching for. Once, he dumped contents of Val's mother's trunk and searched, but never found what he was looking for. Something of great purpose and value.

"I think it's a map of tunnels to finding a secret place." Val smiled slightly and patted his front jean pocket. "I brought it along to see if it really was a treasure map, but the rock slide stopped me. Now, I'm thinkin' that it may lead to another of those relics. Here, take it while I'm awake to see that it's safe."

Xelloss agreed. "When I find Zelgadiss and Lina, I'll be sure they get it, Val." He stared to say more, but Val was slipping away under the spell of the drugs and fever coursing through his system.

Jillas and Gravos returned dumping the stuff and heating the water. Gravos excused himself to go get more water and another blanket. Xelloss removed Val's shoes and socks, then waited for the water to heat before removing his shredded jeans. With another blanket to work with, Xelloss had Gravos help him stretch Val out on one while the other blanket Xelloss ordered them to lay out in some sun to chase out the bugs.

"Water's boilin'," Jillas said, then switched the hot pot with another one brimming with cold, fresh water.

"I'll need this towel ripped into smaller piece that I'll clean him with, then just burn. Can you do that? Good." Xelloss removed the make-shift bandage form Val's forehead and winced at the gash and bump protruding from the center. He withdrew a packet of unmarked envelopes and bottles from his small shoulder satchel and delicately cleaned the wound. 

Val moaned and the antiseptic sizzled over the infected flesh. "I'm going to have to have lots more water to wash his hair so more dirt doesn't get into this," Xelloss said. Both punks took off without another word. Val's condition was scaring them. What if he died? They might be held accountable! But it wasn't the authorities that they were concerned about, rather that kid out there, Xelloss. He was a leader in the syndicate? Almayce's people said so! So with Gaav dead, Xelloss was… their next leader? Jillas and Gravos had a lot to worry about.

Xelloss washed Val's face and shoulders, turned him on his unhurt side and washed his back, removing embedded rock slivers and applying antibiotic salve as needed. He other side was more difficult to reach without moving the painful arm. He pressed around the back shoulder blades and decided that nothing was broken, but that with a good hard shove, he could relocate the shoulder and relieve the worst problem.

"Argh!" Val groaned in agony following Xelloss' well-placed karate punch.

"Whaaaat?!" Jillas croaked as he and Gravos stumbled onto the nightmarish scene.

Xelloss ignored them for the most part. He took a towel out of the boiling water and gingerly squeezed out the water, then wrapped it in a dry one and placed it on the swelling. He gently lowered Val onto his back, letting the warmth soak into the wounded area.

Next, Xelloss washed Val's hair and wrapped it in a towel. Val barely moaned this time. "Hey…that feels nice…" he whispered.

Jillas switched pots again and ripped up another towel, awaiting his next orders from Xelloss.

"Unless you two get off on looking at naked guys, then get out. Guard the passageway and keep those other…clansmen from disturbing us."

"Yes, boss!" both Jillas and Gravos answered in unison.

Xelloss smiled faintly after them then returned to business. "Just relax, Val. This is the last I have to do for a while, then I can let you sleep, okay?"

Val may have nodded while Xelloss slipped off the blood and dirt-spattered, tattered jeans and sticky underwear. "Ugh…" Xelloss shrank back, repelled by the smell. He was a finicky person himself, but knew that if Val was to recover, it was all up to him, his only friend. With quick, sure touches, Xelloss cleaned him (thinking, inadvertently about Filia changing baby Quinny). He covered him with a towel and snatched up the pale gray sweatpants from Gravos. "They look long enough, but they are huge around the waist. Ah, some rope…that will do for a belt," Xelloss muttered to the silent Val.

"You're gorgeous…"

"Huh?" Xelloss snapped to attention. "Val?"

Val stretched out his well arm, snagging Xelloss long purple hair in his fingers, and tightened them into a fist.

"AH, Val? That hurts. Could you just open up your hand and…there that's better…" Xelloss said calmly as he tried to extricate himself from his friend's firm grasp. One look into those glassy golden eyes, and Xelloss knew he was talking to a very out-of-it Val. "Um, I sure hope you don't remember ANY of this later. I, ah…promise never to mention it myself… OH!"

~*~

"This is where we'll have to separate for awhile," Zel sighed.

"Yeah," Lina agreed. "But there are three paths…"

"I'll go alone," Filia announced. "Val's this way. I can see shafts of light too." No one else did.

Despite all their objections, Filia over-ruled them all. The small group, then, lay out the ground-rules, path marking, when to turn back, all of it until they agreed. Twenty minutes, then turn back. If everyone wasn't back in one hour, then a search party of the remaining guys would go after them.

Gourry and Lina set out on one path, Zelgadiss and Amelia another, and Filia up the third. She'd find him; she knew it!

As it turned out, Gourry and Zel's paths intersected fifteen minutes later. They decided to continue as a group for the remaining five minutes, when they rounded a corner and saw an unexpected sight-- Jillas and Gravos complaining about their bad luck on a pair of boulders not far from a surface opening.

~*~

"Yer skin's soft…"

"Va-al, that's the drug talking. Try and focus on who I am while I get these pants on you. Better yet, pass out. I think I like you better that way," Xelloss smiled and worked the leg holes over Val's feet.

"I like you…this way…"

"Uh, huh… Thanks Val. I sure wish you were smaller and lighter about now," Xelloss panted at the effort of moving the guy who was nearly a foot taller and at least thirty pounds heavier than him.

"Come back here…" Val murmured and tugged at Xelloss upwards from under his arm.

"Ah, geez, Val… You and I just barely get along on a good day, and besides…" Xelloss grinned hoping to break through the drug-induced fog to Val's reality-brain, "What would Lina think?"

Filia chose that moment to step out onto the lookout of the temple. Her eyes had been used to the dimness of the tunnels, so when she emerged form the narrow opening between the rocks and into the bright light, she was stunned.

"Val?" she narrowed her eyes and shaded them with a hand. "Val?! Xelloss?"

"Wonderful…" Xelloss thought. "I'm having a Zelgadiss moment. I could probably explain why my hand is down his pants while I'm sitting on his lap, but I don't know what would clarify the his-hands-in-my-hair part." He did notice that Filia wasn't moving too fast being blinded temporarily by the sunlight, so used that to extricate himself from Val's grip and finish pulling up the loose sweatpants.

"At least it wasn't Lina," he murmured aloud. He turned back to Filia just in time to see her snag a foot in a crevasse. "Watch it, Filia!" he shouted and jumped to her aid. He caught her in his arms and smiled, "Nice of you to drop by, Filia-dear."

She ignored it all. "Val…?" she couldn't get past that one word. Xelloss let go of her carefully.

She dropped to one knee by Val's side and stroked his chest. He opened a glazed-over eye and growled.

"I've been administering first aid to him. Don't try to make sense of him, Filia, he's drugged and irrational right now. In fact pull that blanket over him a bit and let him sleep. I gave him some…antibiotics and something to lower his temperature. What he needs now is some sleep, then food and water."

Filia sat back and reached for the light cotton quilt. She planted a soft kiss on Val's cheek, then drew the quilt up to his neck. "What happened to his clothes?"

"They're over there, what's left of them. I was about to burn them to keep away the flies and all," Xelloss said. He stood and prodded the pile with a stick, then flung them piece by piece into the fire.

"You…bathed him?" Filia said.

Xelloss nodded. "He's got some bad bruising and cuts, some were infected. It was the only way..."

Filia stood and joined Xelloss by the fire. She gave him a little hug, saying, "You're a good person, Xelloss."

Then she stepped back and asked, "What drugs? Where did you get the medical supplies? How did you get treated? I felt bandages under your shirt, Xelly-boy."

He blanched and flung up his hands in defense, "You sure get a lot out of a hug, Filia."

"You can't imagine how much," she frowned. "You're wearing a pendant too. Is it that pendant? Did the syndicate help you out, Xelloss? Are you one of THEM again? Are you the enemy now?" 

"Well… I'm…beholden to them, yes, but as for the rest, well… that's a secret!" he shrugged.

He heard a disturbance from the larger opening Jillas and Gravos were supposed to be guarding. "Listen, before you go nuts here…" he began.

"Careful who you're calling 'nuts', Xelly," she said, glancing at Val with a worried expression. "I want to get him out of here."

"Me too, but we can't move him right now. There are other serious dangers to you right now. I want you out of here with this fellow Almayce and his two armed cronies around. If they find out that you're clan, they might kill you without a thought!"

"Are they syndicate murderers?" she paled in fright.

"Worse, because we don't kill innocent Cephied members. Now, I don't have time to explain everything right this minute. I hear Lina's voice and I've got to stop her from attracting too much unwanted attention, okay? Come with me, Val's not going anywhere for now."

Filia gave Val a heartfelt last look, then took Xelloss' outstretched hand and followed him into the darkness. He'd said 'we'. He's one of them now. Filia shuddered and prayed for his salvation.

~*~

Once Xelloss found the noisemakers. He rapidly set to quieting down the entire group, reminding Jillas and Gravos of the extreme danger they would all be in if Almayce encountered them. Lina took a little more convincing. She wanted a full and complete explanation of what had happened to him, but something in his desperate expression and Filia's haunted look stopped her short.

"Come here, Filia. Tell me what's going on," Lina urged.

Xelloss surreptitiously pulled Zelgadiss aside, while Filia told the others about finding Val.

"Zelgadiss, take this quickly and use it. It's from Val. A map to a hidden relic, he thinks."

Zel looked at Xelloss in wonder, "You're both alive…"

Xelloss smiled and nodded then whispered rapidly, "Three guys, dangerous and armed and NOT syndicate but clan-related are here. They stole the staff and have it here too. Remember what we said in secret one time, little brother? From now on, you won't know what side I'm playing, but…trust me, okay? No matter what? Now, look mad and don't let them see that map until you are far away, please…"

Zel fought off tears, then nodded and yelled, "Xelloss, you traitor! You've chosen your side. Now let us go and keep your nasty thugs off us. We'll be back for Val, you have my word! Oh, and _I _always keep my word."

Xelloss smarted at the verbal assault. Even knowing that this time it was insincere, it wasn't that long ago that Zel had said and meant similar biting remarks.

Jillas and Gravos, impressed by the turn of events, watched Lina and company back off and retreat into the shadows. "Wow, boss, you really have turned against them. I thought you guys were tight, man."

Xelloss gave him an unreadable look then smiled. "I'm going to check on Val a moment."

Lina scampered to keep up with Zel in the semi darkness. "Hey, slow down! We're not all attached, or are you trying to lose us!" she shouted. 

He stopped abruptly and mashed his hand over her mouth, "Shhhhh! Hold hands, then and hurry a little farther."

He led them back to the cavern where they had separated less than an hour ago. Once they were all gathered around, he asked Filia what had happened. She explained finding Val and Xelloss. Val was alive and unconscious, but it appeared that Xelloss was taking care of him. Lastly, she told them what they all had feared, that Xelloss was acing under orders to the syndicate. "But there are some other guys he claimed were worse and looking for your heirlooms."

Zel withdrew the map, "It's Val's. He wants us to find _his_ lost heirloom." 

Lina snatched it out of his hand, "How did you get a hold of this?" She looked deeply into his blue eyes, determined to wrestle the information out of him.

"Well, Lina, it's… a secret!" he smirked, nabbed the map back, and dashed off. 

Unfortunately, Amelia had just finished re-uniting the team with rope ties. Zel reached the end of HIS rope after about ten paces. 

ARGH! PLUNK! 

Lina chuckled, eyes gleaming in the darkness, "That's what happens to smart asses who try and pull one over on me! Now, I'll lead us through this maze…"

~*~

Meanwhile, Sirius and Erulogos sought out Xelloss. "Is that young Ancient clan man going to survive do you think?" Sirius asked.

Xelloss nodded, "it looks that way, though I'd prefer to have him transported out of this place and under a doctor's care."

Erulogos snarled, "We don't have TIME for that. WE need a plan for getting those weapons before…" he hesitated a second, "We must hurry!"

Xelloss smiled. He had to buy time for Lina to locate that last relic and get to safety. Then there was Val to think of… "Well, gentlemen, I have a few ideas. If you'd like to bring us some refreshments… tea perhaps?"

~*~

Sometime later, deep in the silent, cool, tomb-like bowels of the mountain, Zel, Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Filia came to a great chamber of records. Filing cabinets covered one end of the room, while rows of bookcases crammed the other end. Tables with inoperative lights lined the center. Aside from the dark and the dust, the room looked orderly and well maintained.

Lina was immediately drawn to a giant book lying half open on a raised dais. She turned a page or two, scanning the books, while Zel began a cursory examination of the files. 

"Hey, this is weird. It's some kind of journal kept by the head clan guy. It says here that the Ancients were _not_ in fights with the syndicate. Ah…they would not share wealth and secrets with 'Golds', whoever they were, so they hid info."

Zelgadiss and Filia were looking over her shoulder now. Lina continued as Amelia and Gourry joined and listened attentively. "It goes on… the Ancients feared attack by 'Golds' any day…"Zel, you ever hear Xelloss talk about some syndicate bunch called the 'Golds'?

Zel shook his head. He didn't want to think or talk about his close friend.

Filia was aghast. Speechless.

"Oh, how awful for them!" Amelia cried. "To know an attack was coming and still not be able to defend themselves. Who could have done such an unjust and…absolutely dreadful thing to these poor people?"

Who indeed?

Outside, not far from the valley that once was home to the Ancient Clan, a young man named Julian lead his golden-haired search party to an unknown future.

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Nine. ~*~


	10. Chapter 10

The Slayers: Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Ten

"I think we should hurry, Lina," Zelgadiss recommended. "The map shows a room off over this way by that wall."

"But it's _just_ a wall," Amelia said as she knocked on the solid-looking wall.

Gourry kicked at it a few times. "It's not like that other one. Ah, Zel? Look at this." He pointed out a small metal plate with faint engravings a foot above Gourry's head.

"Yes! Markings like we've found on the handles of the sword. Good, Gourry. So now, how do we turn this into a room?" Zel asked.

With a lunge and a swipe, Lina sent her massive axe blasting through the wall, exposing the hidden room on the other side.

"Shit!" Zel yelled nearly jumping out of his skin. "Lina! What are you thinking!"

"She's very…" Gourry began.

"Destructive!" Zel gasped.

"Noisy!" Filia cried out.

"Clever and resourceful!" Amelia chirped.

Lina glared at Gourry, "And _you_ were going to say?"

"Um…you're very strong…to break through that wall…and all," Gourry added warily.

"Damned straight!" she grinned and slapped him cordially on the back. "Wanna crack at it?"

She stepped back gallantly to allow Gourry room to swing his huge sword.

Thwack! Crash! 

His sword split through the plasterboard, slicing the two-by-fours, and bringing down most of the temporary wall. 

"Didn't leave much for you to finish up," Zel smirked at Lina as he stepped over a hunk of wall and into the small chamber. "Lina, it-it's here!"

Everyone squeezed into the small chamber to look. There was a sealed case on a slightly raised platform in the center on the room. In it lay a huge wooden hunting bow decorated with ancient script and symbols. 

"WOW…."

"Wow, indeed," Zelgadiss smiled. He attempted to open the lid, but it was sealed with a magnetically- encoded lock. 

"Ah, this has got to be at least twenty years old. It shouldn't be any trouble at all for me to figure out," he said in response to Lina' digs. "Now, stop poking me."

But it wasn't Lina doing the poking. The Cephied Supreme Clan Elder stood in the doorway.

"Um, I think ya need at come out and talk to this guy, Zel," Gourry said in a low voice. Beside him, Lina and Amelia were silent in their disbelief that anyone could have found them here. Filia appeared on the verge of tears or hysteria or fainting or all three.

"I see you have brought the Ancient weapons with you, children…and found the hidden one. Very well, I'll take those now…" he said forebodingly. 

"That is unlikely, Sir," said a singsong voice familiar to the kids. "The 'children', as you call them, out-number you, and I can out-fight you!"

~*~

After making sure his friends had made it past the immediate subterranean passageways, Xelloss climbed back out into the sun. Val was moving slightly so he took the opportunity to check his temperature, help him to down some liquids.

"Any chance I might get some food?" Val gasped, trying to smirk at the same time. His hand moved to brush away soft locks of green hair from his face, and passed across his forehead. "What's this? Ouch!"

"That is the nastiest cut I've seen in awhile. I bandaged it okay, but it's swollen," Xelloss answered. "Here, take this. It's more antibiotics. I can't get your temperature to stay down so you might have some other wound that's infected. Any pain?"

"Ya gotta be kiddin'… Everythin' hurts! I know what yer getting' at though. Yeah, this arm that's not movin' and the shoulder…that's the worst. And, well, it's hot out here, even in the shade."

"Hot, but relatively clean. Those caves and tunnels are damp and dirty," Xelloss muttered. "You were given some heavy duty drugs before, but I can tell your metabolism is working through those some. You are…coherent now."

"Oh yeah? What's that smile about? I talk in my sleep or something'?"

Xelloss shook his head, "Not really."

"So, where're my clothes? What are these awful things I have on?"

"Your clothes were damaged. Those are the best Gravos and Jillas could come up with, I'm afraid. Tighten the rope if you need to for the pants and the…shirt…I don't know what to say," Xelloss smiled.

"Gravos…Jillas… I kinda remember hearin' their voices but I keep getting' stuff mixed with my dreams. Ya know, I gotta get my hair outta my face! Why's it not spiked up?" Val asked tugging at the wayward locks again.

"Here use this strip of black cloth and tie it like a head band. Here, I'll do it. I did this to my hair for Karate all the time," Xelloss offered.

"You did it, right?"

"Hmmm? There, better? You can see anyway…" Xelloss smiled.

"Yer e-va-ding my questions, Xelloss," Val growled. "I hope it was you and not one of those creeps with their hands all over me."

"Ah, well, in that case…yes. Guilty as charged. You needed first aid and there was no one else and…" Xelloss began nervously.

"Yer always was kinda fin-i-kee, Xelloss…but it's okay, man. If it wasn't fer you I'd be dead. And it kinda explains one of those dreams," Val closed his eyes in a grimace of pain. "Ugh! Got anything in there ta knock me out again?"

Happy to change topics, Xelloss pawed through his shoulder knapsack, "Yes, in a way. Mild painkillers, but with that fever, you'll be back to sleeping in a few minutes. You can swallow these with…"

Val silenced him with a grab to his throat, "What's with this thing? Syndicate pendant? That how you got fixed up with all this medical crap and all? You with them again? Ha! And here I though you were one of the smart ones! Why the f~$#^%* did you go and get in with those thugs again?"

"Ha, ha! I guess I'm not so smart, Val. After I was thrown in jail for being 'different' and about to be charged with attacking Milgasia…Oh, that, well, I'd managed to get him down the hill…in your car. Yes, it's okay, or was… I'm getting to that! I drove somehow to the hospital and the emergency personnel accepted him but chased _me_ off, cut, bruised and irrational enough to keep _several_ doctors busy! I didn't get much further than to a phone booth and I left a few messages, which must have gotten through to someone because Lina and Gourry and Amelia and Zelgadiss and Filia…" he paused, breathless.

"Filia? She's HERE?" Val gasped.

"Yes, she found us up here and knows you're…alive, anyway. So the police or whoever they were cuffed me and threw me in a cell. That, by the way, was the last time I saw your Suburban. Ah… oh, yes, I was rotting away in the cell. I had managed to pass out at the sight of my own blood, but eventually I recovered and I demanded a telephone call to the shrine. You know, or may not, that the White Shrine priests have that agreement with the clan, but…I chose a different approach which I will pay for but got me to this point."

"So you called someone in the syndicate, and they picked you up, fixed you up, and now…you're under new orders, I figure, huh?" Val asked.

"Yes."

"Like, from who…and what?"

"Oh, Val…you know that that's a secret, right?" Xelloss said, but didn't smile.

"So yer not helping' Lina? What about Zel? Ain't he yer best friend? Didn't you make him some promises not far back? I remember, if yer havin' memory problems," Val said in a low voice.

"Val, I hope you sleep through the rest of this fiasco. I wish I could change so many things. You and I may be opposing forces soon, and I'd hate that. I promise, Val, that no matter what I do or say, I'll not hurt any of you, my friends, okay?" Xelloss whispered and eyes open wide looking frantic for acceptance from this friend.

"Okay? I got no idea what yer talkin' bout now, so I can't agree at nothing'. Ahhhhh, I think that pain stuff's kickin' in now. Gotta rest…Oh and yer got the scariest eyes. No wonder ya close'em most of the time…" Val murmured as he fell back into a stupor. 

"Me scary? _You _should talk," Xelloss smiled and pulled the quilt over Val's chest. "Now, I wonder what kind of trouble Lina's gotten the rest of them into by now?"

~*~ 

Xelloss heard the approach of another helicopter as he left Val's side, "That can't be good…" he said under his breath. "Just what I need, more powerful people happy to murder me. Better see who this one is and where he's going."

He was surprised to find the Supreme Clan Elder emerging from the helicopter and trotting, bent in half beneath the rotating blades, to a well hidden cave entrance not far from the temple. "Interesting…" Xelloss thought, "Interesting that he should know his way around here."

Xelloss followed clandestinely, slipping into shadows and escaping notice until they entered the Ancient clan library and hall of records. "Ah, so Lina's been here," Xelloss mused as he noticed the hacked up wall, then heard the familiar voices of his friends. "Oh, so he thinks he can just waltz in and take the relics, eh? Well now…"

"… Very well, I'll take those now…" the Supreme Elder said forebodingly. 

"That is unlikely, Sir," Xelloss said in his peculiar lilt. "The 'children', as you call them, out-number you and I can out-fight you!"

"YOU?!"

"Yes, may I introduce myself…"

"I know you, Xelloss Metallium, son of syndicate filth…"

"Actually, my mother was very hygienic, but I won't argue the point about my birth father, since I didn't know him that well…" Xelloss smiled teasingly.

"Shut up! Now tell me, how is it that you are here, and Milgasia and that young…Val was it? Where are they? Milgasia was supposed to report in days ago!" the Supreme Elder grumbled.

"Milgasia was reporting to you?" Zelgadiss interrupted. "Did you know anything about that, Xelloss?"

"Of course he wouldn't!" the Supreme Elder in turn interrupted. "Even Milgasia knew nothing of my plans."

Xelloss twirled his staff like a baton then chuckled. "I'm curious. Why is it that you knew where to come, to find this place, but didn't bother to tell Milgasia? Come to think about it… How is it you know so much about the Ancient's secrets, their temple, it's tunnels…hidden relics…hmmm?"

"I am here to stop you, all of you! I have kept many secrets from the young clan leader, Milgasia, and others--including my knowledge of the hiding place of the Ancient's treasured relic. I didn't even tell Almayce about it…in order to stop his advance." The Supreme Elder collected his thoughts a moment.

"Almayce? What's all this about? Why would you keep secrets from your leadership?" Filia spoke up.

"Almayce is my…is in an equivalent position to mine in a European offshoot called the Overworlders. They follow the teachings of Volphied, brother to Cephied. I do not want Almayce's people to get inroads into the Ancient clan area here," the Supreme Elder said. He stood proud and ready to defend his position at any time.

"…and it will be the Cephied _Golden_ clan who will take the heat of pushing Almayce out," Xelloss added smugly. He applied emphasis to the word 'Golden'.

"That's a rather nasty way of going about your business, letting one branch of your organization do the dirty work, while you appear uninvolved," Lina spoke up. "Reminds me of that obnoxious little syndicate kid, Phibrizzo, until he went nuts and got personally involved. Like you are. Yeah, you're making the same mistake as that little nutcase. You're here and getting in MY way and messing with MY friends!"

"_Golden_…_Golds_…Lina, that journal you were reading!" Zelgadiss suddenly blurted out.

"Oh, My! Lina! That's right! The Ancients were afraid of attack by people they called the '_Golds_'!" Amelia cried out.

"Oh, no… those are MY people!" Filia protested. "We are a peaceful clan! We'd NEVER attack another clan…anyone like that!"

Supreme elder drew himself to his fullest height.

"I bet that there's a story just dying to come out!" Xelloss chuckled.

"Oh…" Filia continued to moan. Xelloss moved to her side to support her as she swayed from the blow.

"The **Goal** is to preserve the peace. We must pull together to keep the syndicate out…and other clans from encroaching on our clans' fortune, like this Almayce character who is demanding we turn over the weapons to his organization!" The Supreme Elder roared, ignoring the fact that Filia was in shock, reeling from the sudden impact of his words, and of what her friends were insinuating. 

"This is getting us no where!" Xelloss pronounced. "I want that weapon and I bet that YOU know the code to remove the locking device, right?" 

"Not on your worthless life," the tall serious man boomed.

Without warning, Xelloss whipped his staff across Filia's neck, and held it firmly in both hands. She flung up her arms and tried shoving the choking staff away, but to no avail. He was far stronger than her. "Now, Supreme Elder, how do you treasure your people, hmmm? How about I kill this clan girl, an Ul Copt family member of high rank? Is her life so worthless to you? How about I release her in return for access to that last relic, okay?"

"Xelloss!" shouted his friends in horror.

The Supreme Elder shouted, "Go ahead! No one person is of more value than that which is for the good of the whole! NO! Only the _Golds_ may have the power!"

"Well then, I guess I have no choice! Xelloss smiled. "I'll just have to…" 

~*~

Almayce knew that the problem at hand was getting increasingly complex every minute. "Sirius and Erulogos, that company of young clansmen you spotted in the ruins below. Get rid of them, now!"

Erulogos scratched his head, ran his fingers through his spiky blue hair, and grinned, "On it, Sir! With pleasure!" 

Sirius bowed and followed in silence. He wasn't the bloodthirsty killer his older brother was, but he knew that he couldn't fail his master again. No, Almayce had his limits as well. He'd better do his job, follow orders, and hope that Almayce would keep him and his brother in his employment. Just get this over with, distasteful as it was…

Almayce's two thugs ran through the subterranean tunnels to a hidden exit, which opened very near the man they believed to be in charge of the search party. As soon as Julian appeared, Erulogos dove out of the shadows and slammed the end of his gun at the young man's temple.

"Say your prayers to Cephied. You're gonna die!" Erulogos hissed in his ear.

Julian froze.

"I dunna think yer outta pull that trigger," said a voice with an Irish accent from a little to the left and behind him, Detective McGywn.

"Yer the law? I know you won't just shoot me in cold blood," the blue-haired man uttered through gritted teeth.

"Well, that may or may not be so, but ya see, that young woman holding the gun to yer head is a Knight of Cephied and she's notoriously trigger-happy."

Luna gave the man a leering grin and cocked the gun in her hand. "That's right…and right now, I'm feeling mighty happy that I found you again!" 

Sirius stepped back into the gloom. He had been a few lengths behind his brother in the tunnel and was obscured by the dark and the turn in the path. He had to think. He didn't know who the adversary was, but his brother's life was in their hands at the moment. One false move would end more than their short careers this time. The rock overhang was aged with loose stones tumbling and bouncing down the mountain. He aimed his gun, catching just the right angle would be critical, if he was to bring down a sizable enough rockslide to stop the men scaling the cliffs and rugged trail. He held his breath, reached out to grab hold of Erulogos, aimed, and fired in rapid succession.

The mountain rumbled, crumbled, and slid…

~*~

"Mr. Xelloss! No! You can't! She's your friend! Don't hurt her!" Amelia cried.

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to…" Xelloss smiled. "…try torture!"

Gasps! 

He knew that he must think of some way to break that encoded lock and free the sealed weapon. If he could just buy Zelgadiss some time or annoy everyone and trick them into attacking the lock together. 

"Ah, Xelloss? Ya better not hurt her," Gourry said in a low voice. "She's never done anythin' to ya." He raised his mammoth sword deliberately.

Filia had been unable to speak, with Xelloss' staff jammed up against her windpipe. As he released some of the pressure, she gasped for breath and snapped, "Get your disgusting, loathsome hands off of me you creep!"

"Well, at least MY family didn't murder thousands of innocent Ancient clansmen down to the last man, woman, and child... well, all but ONE child. Will you be telling Val or shall I, Fil-i-a?" Xelloss smiled evilly. "Oh, you _have_ put it all together now haven't you? You know now that all the Cephied _Golden_ clans killed the Ancients out of _greed_. Somehow, these relics have clues to the Ancient Clan's treasures and directions or maps of the oil and mineral reserves beneath Dragon Valley. Those were supposed to be resources shared by ALL the clans, but when the Ancient's broke off from the rest, they took their wealth and their secrets and hid them carefully."

"Ooooo, stop being so cruel! How do you KNOW all of that? How do you know that it's the truth?!" cried Amelia.

"That's ENOUGH!" Lina yelled in a shrill voice. 

Zelgadiss meanwhile noticed that all the attention was drawn to Xelloss, and so focused on breaking the code on the lock. He knew that Xelloss had the story right, that Zelas must have filled him in on the nasty details, as the syndicate knew them anyway. He concentrated on the task at hand, blocking out the altercation around him.

Further conversation, however, was stifled by the sounds of footsteps thundering up the tunnel to the record room. 

Having freed Erulogos, Sirius knew that he must report back immediately to Almayce. "Sir!" he shouted breathlessly, then stood at attention alongside his brother at the entrance to the records room.

Almayce turned toward the tall pink and blue haired men, "Problem solved?"

Erulogos nodded, "Golden party trapped in a landslide along with their knight and some police dude."

"Luna!" Lina gasped.

"Julian!" Filia wailed at the same time. In her frenzy, she struggled free of Xelloss' clench.

"I'll make a deal with you, " Almayce said to Lina. 

"Deal?! DEAL?! I don't do deals with murderers! These are OUR weapons, got that? We found this one, too. We're taking them, our friends, and everything that's owed them and leaving!" Lina hollered. 

The Supreme Elder noticed Zel hard at work on the lock. That wouldn't do. He hauled back his staff and brought it down hard. Lina caught his first movements out of the corner of her eye and whirled her axe aimed to chop off his blow.

"Zel-gaaaaaa-dissssss!" Amelia screamed and leaped at his hunched form, knocking him out of the way seconds before the axe would have chopped off his right hand.

Gourry caught Lina, who was way off-balance from the heavy axe. "Here, Lina, I'll take that…" He yanked at the axe. Its blade was embedded in the lid of the box so that when he pulled it free, the broken lock beneath was revealed.

"AH, HA!" Lina exclaimed and grasped the ancient bow by its center. "Mine too!"

"Ah…or mine?" Xelloss smiled with a hand on the bow as well.

"I don't know what's got into you, Mr. Xelloss, but you have no right to treat Miss Filia so mean or lay claim to this!" Amelia cried out.

Gourry and Xelloss faced off with the much taller young man shoving the shorter one away from Lina. "It belongs to Val, if anyone. Now, keep your hands off Lina," Gourry growled menacingly.

"I don't think I'm your biggest concern," Xelloss whispered his voice raspy. 

It was Almayce's turn to grab the bow and attempt to twist it out of Lina's tight grasp. The Supreme Elder stopped him with a blow from a 2x4 broken loose from the breached wall.

"Argh!" Almayce moaned, blood seeping from the head wound.

"Sir!" Sirius shouted and caught the collapsing man. "Erulogos, help me get him to safety. Forget these people. We still have one of the weapons so they can't do anything without our cooperation!" 

"I won't bargain with these…kids!" growled Erulogos. He kicked his boss hard to make his point. "Die, old man. I will gather the weapons of the ancients and solve the mystery of the lost treasures, alone if I must. Anything to trap DARKSTAR here and be done with it…"

Lina was about to clobber him in the face, when Xelloss slipped up behind her, grabbed hold of the tall, sleek bow, and knocked her senseless with a well-placed karate-chop. "Forgive me, dearest Lina," he whispered, then ran like hell out of the room.

"After him!"

Sirius thought of Xelloss as a possible ally, and so, placed himself and the unconscious Almayce in the passageway, blocking the way. Erulogos drew his gun. "Get _moving_!" he shouted to his brother over a shoulder. "_Follow_ him!"

"You…you are an evil, ruthless man," the Supreme Elder snarled. "I never should have allowed your people into this territory. If it is true…if you have brought DARKSTAR to this place as well, then I hope you all rot in the seven hells of…"

Blam! 

"You are a hypocrite and deserve death!" Erulogos shouted in defense then fired his gun; the bullet smashed into the Supreme Elder's upper chest.

"OH! My GODS!" Filia wailed. "Help him somebody, help him!" She knelt over the bleeding body protectively, while Zelgadiss ripped at the fallen man's clothes.

"Filia, take this wad of shirt and press, press HARD there …stop the bleeding," Zel instructed.

"They're getting away!" Amelia cried out as if coming out of a dream.

"Yeah, well they can't go far, dragging that Almayce character around…" Lina spat. She was angry. "What is Xelloss up to anyway? He was like some weird stranger wearing his skin. Think he's finally gone bonkers?"

Gourry stood partially in shock. The summer had begun so well. Camping, swimming, music… All friends having fun, being screwy teenagers for a change, normal. Now what? What had happened to Val, to Xelloss? Two men were dying, right in front of his eyes! And Luna! That was Lina's big sister! And Julian, Filia's cousin, and all the others! What had happened to them? Surely not buried under tons of rock?! Well, one thing was for certain, he was going to protect his Lina, and his remaining friends, no matter what.

Gourry looked down and into Lina's ruby eyes. She'd just asked him a question, but he hadn't heard. He pulled her close, held her tightly, and felt her trembling. "Lina…" was all he could say.

Filia was near to hysteria. "We have to find Julia! He can't have been k-killed! I just know he's safe somewhere! We have to go look for him NOW! Luna…the Knight of Cephied…she's with him. She'll save them…all of us! Come on!"

Groans…

The Supreme Elder of all the clans under Cephied turned his glazed eyes toward the beautiful, weeping girl. "Foolish girl…I would have killed them all too…just for those Ancient's weapons…for the bow alone…"

In a single violent act, Filia tore the pendant, her symbolic link with her clan, from her neck and flung it at the old man's feet. "I reject you! I reject the clan…everything! EVERYTHING!" she screamed and cried and cried.

To Gourry, it was one of the most terrible moments he had witnessed to date. Amelia wrapped her arms around Filia's neck and cried along with her, her words of comfort muffled by the soft folds of her light cotton blouse. Lina met Zel's eyes in tortured anguish, "What are we gonna do?"

~*~

Xelloss ran until nearly breathless, he climbed out into the late afternoon sun. Sun. It was still day? The same day? You could lose all track of time down there in the tunnels…

"Val! Val!"

"Huh? Oh…you, yeah…Jillas brought me some water and a shirt. Look at this stupid thing. Looks like he ripped it off some kid in marchin' band, and about two sizes too small!" Val said spreading out his arms to show off the too-short sleeves. 

"Just stay put. You shouldn't have moved that arm either, idiot! Where'd Beavis and Butt-head go to?" Xelloss asked as he set down both his staff and the large bow.

"Lookin' fer you, they said. There was another earthquake, er somethin' and they went out on search. Hey, where d'ya get that awesome bow?"

"Stole it from Lina."

"Oooo, that's gonna come back at yer, ya know," Val grinned and winced in pain soon after.

"Oh, I know it! Say, you haven't noticed another helicopter buzzing around, have you?" Xelloss asked.

"Yeah, came over real high and left not long ago. Circlin' maybe. Who's next?" Val's expression turning serious as he recognized fear in the eyes of his friend.

"Could be good or bad. Help or a delegation from the syndicate's competition from overseas. Looks like you're Mr. Popularity. Everyone want's a part of you!" Xelloss smiled briefly. "…or me…I'll try and stop him, if it's him…DARKSTAR."

"DARKSTAR? Sounds like STARWARS movie crap, Xelloss. This for real, dude?"

"_He_ is. I don't know who he is, but mother does and she was spooked…Oh…" Xelloss gasped.

"_Mother_? Zelas? You mean to tell me that witch isn't dead…yet? And you've seen her and…" Val's face colored with anger.

"Yes…" Xelloss whispered. "Now you're as good as dead…no one should know… I must be slipping, to have let that get through."

"Maybe yer imperfect and need some help," Val said gravely.

They were interrupted by the intrusive presence of Sirius and Erulogos dragging Almayce into the light. Across Almayce's torso, was the staff of the Red Priest.

"He's dead," Sirius said simply. He carefully arranged the Volphied leader's limbs and covered his face with the hood of his cloak.

Ignoring his brother, Erulogos launched into Xelloss immediately. Stabbing a finger into his face he sneered aggressively, "You. Tell me why I shouldn't just let DARKSTAR come and take over this place! We'll get clear of here, keep the weapons and figure out what the big mystery is 'bout them. Let him conquer this wasteland and leave us in Europe alone for awhile! Doesn't his being here help your cause? Aren't you all about corruptin' the clan?"

Xelloss stepped back and pushed the offending digit away. "The Syndicate wants to destroy DARKSTAR, too. If he comes, he will not stop here, but will encroach on all our territories as well, MY territories. That makes it personal. I can help you stop DARKSTAR."

Sirius lurched forward. "I think Volphied was nearly absorbed by the DARKSTAR organization. There's no reason to believe that he won't return and finish the job someday and so we must destroy DARKSTAR here and now! He's too dangerous to the entire world! I accept his help, Erulogos. I think you should too." 

Sirius lifted the beautiful Red Priest's staff from the stiffening body of his passing leader.

Val looked at his friend and saw only death.

"Here," Xelloss said, his voice husky with tension. "Val, this one's yours." He gently scooted the bow within Val's long reach. 

Sirius solemnly handed over the Red priest's staff to Xelloss, "You say you're a priest? Then this must be yours." 

~*~

"I said that we shoulda stayed and waited for the boss, that's all," Gravos groaned.

"Yeah? And maybe we are the one's who'll find him buried under rock like our other boss? This mountain's about to come down on all of us, I bet," Jillas added to cover the fear creeping into his voice.

Groans…

"Maybe yer right! I hear voices down that way," Gravos shouted and they changed directions again.

"Yeah, a bunch of folks…should we help 'em?" Jillas asked.

"Hey, its that cop that's friends with da boss!" Gravos shouted. 

Of course, he had arrested both these kids before, but what was past was past. "Hey!" McGywn shouted. "Help me with the little lady here. I think Everyone else is gonna be okay too. Gravos? Is that you? I dunna wanna think what yer doin' here, but if yer help us here, it'll look good for ye in the future."

"Ah…I think I hear that Lina chick around the corner," Jillas chirped excitedly. "I'll see if they wanna help too!" He spun on one heal and took off like lightening.

Gravos chuckled, "I think he's still afraid yer gonna lock 'em up every chance ya git!"

"Who says I'm not!" McGywn chuckled back.

~*~

"We're going to find Val," Lina said with determination seeping from her pores. "Then Xelloss."

"Right!" Gourry agreed.

"Okay…" Amelia said hesitantly. She looked askance at Zelgadiss.

"Fine." That was it. "There's nothing more I can do for this man. Unless we can get a helicopter to haul him out soon, he's gone. Let's go and see if we can end this now," Zel muttered and helped Filia out the door behind Lina and Gourry. 

"Come on, Amelia," he said in a near whisper. "We can't save him staying here any longer."

Amelia nodded and followed obediently, if not finally disheartened. 

The somber group followed a trail Gourry and Zel had marked earlier that day hoping it would take them eventually upwards to where Val had last been seen. Filia kept lagging behind, and so Lina decided to give her a little pep talk.

"Filia, can I pass along a little advice from my big sis?" Lina ventured.

Filia looked down at Lina. Oh, she'd forgotten how deeply worried Lina must be over her sister's…disappearance! "What? Oh, yes, please, Lina." 

Lina grabbed her arm and started to pull her along at a faster pace to join up with the others. "Sis always told me that girls must be cheerful and not dwell on past… so smile and be hopeful!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAH, HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Jillas shouted. "Stop! You may go no further!"

"AAAAAAAH!" Amelia and Filia screamed in surprise.

"You know where Val is?" Filia cried out. "Take us there now! You've been so kind to him. I'll be forever in your debt!"

"Ah, Filia," Lina said making a face. "He's just a stupid little troublemaker…"

"Well I was going to take you to a bunch of dudes that were lookin' fer you!" Jillas said becoming surly.

"Oh, please?" Filia sidled up to him and poured on the charm.

Zel swallowed hard and looked at Gourry. Gourry communicated with his eyes, sending those messages, "He's sunk."

Zel nodded, "He never had a chance," in silent agreement.

"Yup, he's lost."

"All over for that poor sucker," Zel nodded the corner of his mouth curling up faintly.

"Yup," Gourry shook his head.

Jillas melted under Filia's warm smile and sank beneath her arm draped easily over his shoulder. "Yeah, they're all over here. That police dude, a woman with dark hair and a really loud voice, and a bunch of big blonde dudes that just missed getting' brained by a load'a rocks! Come on, I'll show ya! Oh, and Val's not far off either. I can take you to him and the other boss dudes," Jillas added dutifully.

Lina 'Nahga laughed', "Oh! Ho ho ho ho ho ho hoooooooo!" 

"Miss Lina! No! Stop that, I just HATE that noise!" Amelia yelled. "I think he means he found your sister!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" Lina smiled, relief flooding her features.

~*~

"Now, you say that young Val Gaav lad is okay and here?" McGywn asked. He was not afraid to lean on Gravos a bit for cooperation at this point.

"Ah, er…um…Well, since you're the friend of da boss, I guess it's okay to take ya that way. Not far, just take the path that goes up there. Ah, you okay, lady? Wanna arm up?" Gravos asked Luna.

"Thanks, kid, but I'm just bruised. You know where Lina Inverse is?" Luna asked.

"I've seen her here. Jillas, he'll bring her an' her friends along," Gravos said between pants. He'd been doing more running in the tunnels than in the entire course of his sorry previous year.

"And Xelloss?" she pressed.

"Oh, um…he's got himself fixed up pretty good and is in charge of things from the syndicate end…or…um, I don't know that yer supposed ta know that or nothin'…" Gravos clamped up and shared no more information with anyone. Having either Xelloss or Val on his bad side could not be good. Withholding information from the police was a serious misdemeanor as well, but not life threatening. Decision made, he said no more for the time being. 

He continued to lead the group of Milgasia's clansmen, Luna and McGywn slowly toward the temple above ground. The party was in various states of injury, but having declared that they must stick together for safety sake, they staggered and limped along. 

Lina's crew reached the temple first, after convincing Jillas to take them there directly and not detour to reunite with Gravos. 

"Okay, now that I AM HERE I want you to listen up!" Lina shouted to the amazement of the two Overworlders standing alongside Xelloss. 

Val was off to the side nearest to the back cave entrance, from which Almayce had once entered alive, hearty and hale. Now, Almayce lay covered in the shade, while the semi-erect Val sat stiffly poised. Holding the Ancient bow for which at least one life had been paid, Val gazed malevolently at Erulogos. When Lina and company appeared his jaw dropped. Shit! Did she have nerves of steel or what?

The rest of her announcement was cut short by a deafening roar and the blasts of clouds of dust and rocks as the reverberation of helicopter rotaries fanned the air. Everyone scurried to the innermost edges of the temple to escape the concussive forces at work as the helicopter landed in the central open court. It hovered momentarily like an oversized insect with reflective, mirrored eyes, hiding the riders inside, then finding the location suitable, settled down at last to rest. One look at the temple area now, and it was clear that this spot had always been intended as landing pad. As the rotors slowed to a steady thuwmp, thwump, a door opened.

Everyone squinted and shielded their eyes from looking directly into the setting sun, but even so, the dust was too thick to make out who had climbed out of the contrivance. The figure stepped nimbly out into the open, then intentionally moved toward Val Gaav.

"DARKSTAR…" gasped Sirius. "We must all work together now."

"Not to my liking, but…I can see no way around it now that he has arrived," grumbled Erulogos.

Materializing out of the billowing haze came a man more menacing than his modest appearance forebode. He was a lean man of average height, Asian features-- not European, amazingly—wearing an expensive black suit. His gray hair cut short in front, just grazing the crisp, white shirt collar in back. DARKSTAR looked serious, and deadly. The Overworlders' words had barely escaped their lips before he made his move on Val. Clearly, he had found the person of interest! In a blur, he yanked Val off his feet and held a slim, black gun nozzle to his jaw.

"Give me the weapons and this man shall live," he demanded. Tinted lenses shaded his eyes, but from Lina's angle, the setting sun reflected eerily of them, giving him a preternatural appearance.

Erulogos raised his gun and aimed, but Xelloss knocked his gun off target with his staff. "Stupid shithead! He's using Val as a shield! We work together, or not at all!" Xelloss hissed in a low voice.

Sirius used their activity to hammer the man on the head using Xelloss' neglected staff. DARKSTAR deflected the blow with a combination of Val's damaged shoulder and quick reaction time.

"UGH!" Val groaned in agony. The giant bow clattered heavily to the hard slate-covered temple floor.

Xelloss was beyond fed up with his two 'comrades'. He wrenched his ruby-topped staff from Sirius with a sneering, "Give me that!" Now he had two staves; one too many for his karate fighting technique. 

He wanted to give the staff to Zelgadiss, but the other's hands were full drawing his sword at that moment. Amelia was aware of his dilemma immediately, and so, stepped briskly into Xelloss' view. One hasty nod and Xelloss sent the invaluable Red Priest's staff sailing through the air into her fair clutches.

"All right!" she shouted amid the staff's jingling rings.

While all eyes were on the flying staff, Xelloss hooked the bow with his pole and snagged it. In an instant, he whipped the bow to Filia's feet. "Take care of this for Val, would you?" he smiled at her astonished face.

DARKSTAR was not amused. He was impressed though, slightly. "Nicely done…" He leveled his unreadable gaze upon Xelloss and his staff. "Syndicate? That's the Metallium staff. I haven't seen that in a long time. Who are you?"

Xelloss smiled serenely and answered, as you would expect in his familiar cheeky style, "That, Sir, is a secret!"

"Maybe you'd like to tell us who YOU are?! I don't remember inviting YOU on this adventure!" Lina yelled. Nothing got her goat faster than some adult caught up in his or her own self-importance.

Then he noticed her. Lina, with her axe resting on one shoulder, stunting her already diminutive stature in comparison. His eyes roved over Zelgadiss and Gourry standing close beside her, swords drawn, anticipative of his next move. He noticed Filia and Amelia, effectively useless with their ancient weapons. 

"Well, it seems you have saved me much time accumulating the five artifacts I need to complete my mission here." 

"Oh, yeah? And what would that be?" Lina asked.

"I suppose I could take the time to explain my motivations to you. I want to purify the world. Simple as that. It's time to stop the competition between the clan and syndicate, worldwide. Eliminate the opposing factions, once and for all and rebuild the political system of the world under DARKSTAR… my way."

Bravely, Amelia shouted, fist upraised, "How unjust! The White Shrine will stop you at all costs, if we fail here today!"

"The White Shrine is unimportant in my current scheme, but if they choose to bother me or get in my way then I shall destroy them. " DARKSTAR said with a voice devoid of any feeling whatsoever.

Val gasped and groaned a little as the man shifted his weight, wrenching his shoulder around.

"OH, PLEASE let him go!!!!!! Take me, a symbol of the new clan of Cephied!" Filia cried out to the consternation of her friends.

"Filia, shuddup and get out of his line of fire," Val managed to gasp out before his assailant twisted his body again sending shooting pain throughout his frame. "Gahh!"

"Leave him alone! He's the last, the last of his clan. That can't mean anything to you! Take me in his place! My people will bargain for my life, give you what you want in return!" she wailed.

"What's she blabbering about?" Lina whispered to Zelgadiss. "We've got the weapons, if we just knew what the hell good they are!"

"I'm not interested in your sacrifice, young follower of Cephied. I am here for those treasures you hold in your hands." DARKSTAR turned his malevolent countenance toward Lina, then each of the kids in turn, ending with Xelloss. "You don't even know what their use is, do you? Ha, ha, ha, ha, haaaa!"

"Ah, actually…no. I thought we might use the wooden parts, you know, the bow and staff and handles as firewood in a few minutes…if it gets cold," Xelloss replied playfully.

That drew an unexpected response of fury directed fully at the daring young man. "DON'T YOU DARE DEBASE THESE TREASURES!" DARKSTAR bellowed. "Don't you see, that's the important part? The designs on the handles fit together… to reveal the Ancient clan's code. The code to unlock their database identifying all the clans' holdings and wealth. ALL the clans, here and overseas! One side of the handle reveals clues to the Cephied and Ancient codes here…other side for the codes for the Volphied databases overseas."

"Thank you. We _were_ curious about that," Xelloss smiled. His eyes sought out Zelgadiss and for a second communicated silently, "This is your chance…figure out the code!"

Zel nodded and nudged, pulled, and urged his friends toward a passage opening. "He's buying us time. Duck in here and lets solve the puzzle!"

Sirius and Erulogos held their guns on target, but made no move to fire. Val was breathing heavily, gathering both the strength and the courage to sacrifice himself so that the others could kill his assailant. Xelloss remained fixed in place, immobile, waiting…

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Ten. ~*~


	11. Chapter 11

****

The Slayers: **Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel**

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Eleven

From the corner of his eye, DARKSTAR saw a flash of light, sun glittering off a lustrous metal surface, the spiky-blue-haired man taking aim.

"Errrrrrrrraaaaaaahhh!" Erulogos growled as he fired his gun aimed at DARKSTAR.

In the same instant, or nearly so, Xelloss and Val moved. Xelloss struck out with his staff to knock Val free and away from the path of the bullet. Val elbowed his assailant and kicked back, trying to knock DARKSTAR off balance.

  
DARKSTAR trained his shadowed eyes along the sight of his revolver. He fired smoothly. Another blast of a firearm resounded off the stony walls, and one man fell to the ground dead.

"Erulogos!" his brother cried in distress.

"MOVE…_any of you_…and you will be lying there beside him, just as dead, just as useless," DARKSTAR promised.

Xelloss gritted his teeth. Things were not working out well. This opponent was too good, clever, intelligent, in excellent physical shape and with inhuman reflexes. Hurry Zelgadiss, Lina… get that code…

~*~

Gravos led his scratched and tattered party upwards out of the dark, dankness to the temple opening, near the overlook. 

Blam! Boom! Kapow! Crash! 

"Gunfire!" Luna shouted.

"That's what I heard," McGywn gasped. He was not used to the climbing and was tired, sore, and out of breath.

"G-gun f-fire? Who could be shooting people up here?" Julian asked, totally confused.

"Shhhhh!" Luna warned the others. "Look and listen!"

~*~

"Got it!" Zel applauded himself silently. "They fit together like this. See? It makes a series of one's and zero's."

"Uh, huh…and?" Lina wondered. She was trying to put the sounds of what must have been gunfire out of her mind.

"Code! Machine language code!"

"Ah, Zel? None of us know how to program a computer, just use one," Lina reminded him.

"I do!" Zel smiled. "I need a paper and pencil to write this down."

"I'll write, you dictate!" Amelia said with enthusiasm.

"Ah, thanks…ready? All right… one, one, zero, zero…"

A few minutes later, Zel rubbed his temples. "Well, that's it. Everything on that side. There's more on the other side that we can get later. So, now what? How do we find a computer around here?" 

"Helicopter! If Luna and McGywn got here, there must be a helicopter nearby. We have what we need, so lets see if we can find their helicopter and…" Lina said.

"I'm not leaving without Val!" Filia announced. "Go on, if you need to, but I'm going to find him!"

Lina thought a moment. "We stick together. Let's go back and see if we can save him…and Xelloss…and get outta here, okay?"

"Yes!" Amelia cheerfully, taking Filia by the arm. "We'll save him and get home, all of us!"

In a few minutes, the five friends and Jillas stood in the opening to the temple as the sun began its descent.

~~~_There standing in the glow of the setting sun it was clear_.~~~

DARKSTAR gripped Val who was half-delirious with pain and the return of his fever now that the medications Xelloss had given him were wearing off. He heard the sounds of people and turned his attention toward the archway by the overlook as Luna peeked out. "What?" he muttered under his breath.

The distraction was enough, Xelloss hoped, as he crept up behind him.

~~~_In that an instant, it was clear_.~~~

Val mustered his remaining strength and contorted his body around, arching backwards and ramming his head and shoulders into the man retaining him. He roared with pain and effort, "Argh!"

In the blink of an eye, Xelloss had DARKSTAR in a headlock and was a hairsbreadth away from breaking the man's neck. His gun soared overhead after Xelloss swung his arm into the rock wall with all his and Val's combined weight. The sleek silver metal caught a ray of sunlight and shone like gold before clattering to the hard floor near Val's feet.

"Let. Him. Go. Now!" Xelloss demanded.

~~~_Clear as pure mountain water from an alpine spring_.~~~

Silence reigned. DARKSTAR tensed. Perhaps he had another move? Xelloss felt him relax his fists, letting Val drop to his feet. Now what?

"Now, back off…slowly, with me," Xelloss commanded, pulling the man along one step at a time away from Val. He was having difficulty speaking; he was clenching his jaw tightly in order to stifle the shaking.

~~~_Clear as day turns into the night, and contrariwise_.~~~

The two men moved like dancers in a tight embrace, swaying right…then left, moving one foot…then the next, progressing backwards. Val's chest heaved with ragged breaths, but he made no attempt to sit up.

~~~_So clear that even a blind man could see it._~~~

DARKSTAR, with his dark hair shot with gray, looked back at his attacker, glasses off. The glasses having fallen in the fracas, were lying delicately, so fragile and unsubstantial, unbroken. Val caught the glimmer of reflected light off the tinted lenses, golden from the setting sun, and saw them. 

SMASH!

His fist pounded the eyewear into the slate, destroying the dainty form in a satisfying moment of violence. Then he picked up the gun. Damn! The impact against the hard wall must have jammed it. Useless, like the glasses now.

DARKSTAR winced undetectably, except to Xelloss. "Oh, no! You will die first before you have one look at me or say **one** **more** **word**," Xelloss said in a hollow tone of voice.

Then, out of the shadows, coming up the rugged path, came one more person. "Oh, my dear, I think not," Zelas Metallium assured him calmly.

"Zelas?!" gasped tens of voices in unison.

"What took you so long?" said Xelloss, the irritation obvious in his voice. He was weakening, and he felt that he had to ensure the death of this man before his strength gave out entirely. He didn't wait for an answer, though, "Don't stop me from this…"

"Darling, I'll handle this from here on out. You have the relics to deal with," she smiled deviously.

"No! I-I mean, they won't be turned over to the syndicate. They are not mine, or yours!" Xelloss hissed, maintaining his death-grip on DARKSTAR.

"They hold the secrets to invaluable treasure, my dear," she cajoled.

"Of the Ancient's…Val's! Not mine, not yours, and certainly NOT this…monster's," Xelloss returned.

"Well…you are right, of course," she sighed. "Have it your way then, it's your inheritance, your loss. But, now, leave him to me. **Now**," Zelas said gravely. 

"Him?! Why him? Let me kill him now and get this over with! He can destroy you, the syndicate, and the entire worldwide alliance with the clans! What?" Xelloss asked. He was frustrated and scared. He had never killed another person, but for some reason he felt ruthless toward this inhuman he had at his mercy. Ruthless. Mercy. He felt merciless.

"Oh, well, I think he won't. Not now. Not…any more. Not now, that I am here," she smiled evilly.

"What are you talking _around_?" Xelloss asked. Did he _want_ to know?

~~~_Clear as glass, clear as air, clear as the truth face to face_.~~~

"I'll take care of him, darling. I'll leave Seyruun as promised and take him with me. I have been planning to return permanently to Europe and now is as good a time as any, don't you agree? Besides…you couldn't kill _me _and you really shouldn't kill your _father_. Now, just let him go and you'll never have to bother with us again."

~~~_Clear as life, clear as death, clear as the nose on your face!_~~~

Xelloss nearly fainted as the blood rushed from his head in a shock response. His grip slackened. The two men turned slowly and looked at one another. They had the same height and build and the same grace of movement, an accident of birth, apparently. Through the gray, the faded purple hair of the older man was visible, but the truth was in the eyes, those unusual purple eyes glittering back at one another. The intensity of their stares burned into one another's minds. Two pairs. A match.

"No…" Xelloss muttered. 

"Yes," was the man's reply, soft with a faint accent. "Though I can hardly accept that it is true. My name is Yamino Hoshi (Dark Star) Metallium and I died when… you were a child. Nearly. I traveled to Europe to use an experimental drug, my last chance for a cure. It worked, but it cost me my life. I can't believe it's you, my son, Xelloss, that little boy. I didn't know you worked… for _her_."

Xelloss wiped the perspiration off his forehead with his sleeve. This could not be happening. He could not be so cursed as this, could he? He felt so much shame he wanted to melt and disappear. But he couldn't. And there were all his friends, standing there. Looking at him. They had heard. Heard it all. He dropped his eyes to the ground forcing the tears back. Then he found his voice.

"I don't. I am a priest in the White Shrine of Seyruun and the drummer in a band called the Slayers. Those…are my friends, over there, the Slayers. They are the most important, wonderful people in this rotten world I live in. 

"I have one father, Rezo Greywords and his son Zelgadiss, is my brother. I have another brother, Val Gaav. My mother died in a car accident on the way to a recording studio with the band. 

"Who _are _you? Someone who is dead and gone? So, _die_ and _go_." Xelloss turned his back on both his mother and father and walked away, stopping to help Val to his feet.

"Come on, dear," Zelas said coercively and pushed the older man ahead of her toward the helicopter. "Time to go. Oh, don't worry, about _him_. He's _always_ been over-dramatic. He'll come around in _no_ time, _just_ wait and see that I'm right. I _always_ _am_, you know. I just _know_ that I'm leaving Seyruun in _good_ hands!"

The two syndicate lords climbed into the helicopter and in a minute, it took off, blowing up a dust storm and deafening the onlookers.

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Eleven. ~*~


	12. Chapter 12

****

The Slayers: **Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel**

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Twelve

Everyone started talking at once.

Filia glommed onto Val asking about his health, then finally unable to stop the flood of tears, she began to weep hysterically. Xelloss had one arm around Val and then wound his other one around Filia, holding them both close to him. A mutual support group of lost souls.

Gourry and Amelia moved close, but not touching, and simply observed the trio. They didn't want to disrupt the special connection the three were making for once.

Sirius, who had been hovering beside his brother's body in silent mourning, eventually rose, searched the sea of faces for the ones he needed, then latched onto Lina and Zel, "So, did you get it? The code?"

"Yes, one of them. I want to see how it works first, before transcribing the second one. What we need is a computer and an Internet connection," Zel explained. His attention was torn between solving the puzzle and dealing with what was happening with his other friends, Xelloss in particular. DARKSTAR, damn…

"Wait just a minute and I'll bring you one," Sirius said as he dashed back into the tunnels.

"Well, he's certifiable!" Lina announced. "Er, ah…Hi sis?!"

Luna wrapped her baby sister in a tight hug, "You IDIOT! Thank Cephied you're safe! Why didn't you listen and go back home like I told you!"

"Cephied had nothing to do with my safety," Lina grumbled. "And I did listen. Amelia got your message on the cellphone, the last time it worked. You said something to the effect…'just do it!' So, I did!"

Luna glanced at Amelia, who nodded, "There may have been more to the message, but that's all that I could hear on the train," Amelia said.

"So what are _you_ doing here?" Lina asked her sister.

"Same as you, looking for Val and Xelloss, and you all of course. Although, I have spent most of my time rock climbing with that hot piece of male…Ah, Julian! Come on over and let me introduce you to my little Sis… What you've already met? Well…"

Just as Zel was about to say something to Xelloss, Sirius stepped out into the semi-darkness as the sun slipped behind the mountains. "Okay, I don't know how much more battery power there is…Oh, it's nearly fully charged. Internet? No problem…we traded up from that old, cell- tower-technology crap. Now we use satellites to bounce all our telecommunication signals worldwide!" Sirius smiled as the information, the possibilities flooded Zel's mind.

"Give me that!" Zel demanded. 

So, while Amelia held her flashlight over his head, Zel typed. "Julian? What's the database name for you clan? Come here, you know some passwords? I'll figure them out if you don't, but it's faster if you do. There…now I enter these new instructions and…no…all right, try it this way…"

A few tries later and… "Got it! Hey, Val, Filia! Xelloss come here and take a look at this…Looks like coordinates for mines…mineral deposits…maps of… Whoa, Val you are one rich dude! Oil reserves, company stock in… well, some of these may be defunct but…the…"

"What's that stuff?" Val croaked as pages of words flashed onto the computer screen.

"Looks to be an inventory of gemstones, no, yes…diamonds loom large on the list. Ah…that's enough to run a small country, Val," Xelloss said softly over his shoulder.

"No shit!" Val chuckled slightly. "Well, I'd rather just have a beer and my bed right now."

"NO BEER!" shouted a chorus of kids, laughing away the stress at last.

Sirius wanted to copy off the code from the other side of the handles, "It _should _work the same way, except that it should reveal the hidden European clan holdings, which is of course, my property."

"Sure," Lina said, not caring a gnat's ankle. "Help him get that?"

Zel started to get up, when Gourry said, "Hey, ya don't need them, I did those rubbings, remember? Got copies made at the hospital, just in case. See? I got both sides…here the ones ya want!" 

In the meantime and at the same time everyone was talking to everyone else. "Are you okay?" was the most often heard question. Detective McGywn finally laid claim to the computer and sent out e-mails requesting emergency police helicopters to assist with both evacuation and cordoning off the temple area from unwanted visitors. 

Gravos and Jillas whispered nervously to one another, comparing notes. "Yeah, but we did steal that one staff!" Gravos reminded his friend. "That cop's gonna nail us fer that!"

"But we helped take care of Val, did what da boss asked, hey…yer could be a hero fer saving the cop and all!" Jillas added hopefully.

"But what if he don't back us up?" Gravos looked at Xelloss. "We ain't friends or nothin'. He don't owe us."

"Yeah," Jillas said sadly. "With his connections, we ain't worth nothin'. Shit… and I just thought he was a wimpy nerd…"

"Detective McGywn, the ambassador from the Overworlders would like to speak to you, please," Zel called out. "I don't see where that Sirius guy went off to…"

Later, the detective made a few more calls of his own, then satisfied with his next decision, waved Sirius back to his side. "Okay, seems your people have beena talkin' to mine an' since I canna hold yer here or in Seyruun, we wait until there's a 'copter fer you and…yer comrades. I'm sorry 'bout him, yer brother? Sad thing, this. And all fer a few scraps o' paper."

"Sad, yes…but these scraps… well, they were worth it to them," Sirius nodded to the two bodies of his fallen comrades, then disappeared again.

Xelloss noticed the helicopter carrying his mother and father was circling around the valley, getting its bearings, his supposed. It was about to come into its nearest orbit looking more like an insect than ever. Unaware of his movements, Xelloss was standing alone at the far side of the overlook, watching the blinking lights of the aircraft approach.

Lina's attention wavered between the group near Zel and the computer and Luna with her Golden Clan admirers, then she spotted Xelloss looking forlorn. Perhaps she should say something to him, but what? "What's that?" she wondered. 

Up on the temple roof-- where once Xelloss had sat with Milgasia and Val at his feet pondering how to break through the secured doors—a figure moved in the shadows. Her mind raced, taking count of who was present and who was missing…Sirius! Lina stepped to the left a few feet, changing angles, then caught a glimpse of a large weapon, a rifle…no, bigger that that... on a mounting aimed up at… at what? The only thing up there was the helicopter and it was pretty far away by now. No it wasn't! It was circling back! In a few seconds, it wouldn't that far off at all!

Using her quick wits she flew into action and screamed at the top of her lungs, "**_G E T D O W N_** !"

Zel and Gourry pitched themselves on top of Val and the girls without stopping to think. McGywn, seeing them move, shouted additional orders, not knowing what the threat was, but trusting in Lina's finely honed survival instincts.

Everyone seemed to obey and move into crouching, protective position, except Xelloss. Only Lina seemed to notice where he was, standing precariously out in the open like that. There was no time for further warning. She ran then jumped, launching herself on a collision course with the unsuspecting boy. 

Xelloss spied the flicker of movement a split second before impact, enough time to turn and catch most of her with his arms and not his abdomen. The force took them both down, Lina in his arms and he on his back.

The rapid-fire from the weapon sent a stream of armor-piercing bullets from the tail to the fuel tanks. Two bullets penetrated the casing, ignited the highly flammable engine fuel, and turned the dainty insect into a brilliant fireball.

The dark sky lit with flames from the exploding gases. Shrapnel and bits of flying plastic not consumed in the blaze tore through the air and fell around the huddled people. Xelloss, with Lina clasped to his chest rolled over as a blast of hot air, dust, and rocks tore over them. He opened an eye to see a bit of propeller blade winging over their heads and smashing into one of the supporting columns. Scraping Lina off the ground, Xelloss carried her to safety as the overlook's roof shattered and fell on top of where they had been lying. He held her tightly and rolled a safe distance away.

"Lina? Lina, please be okay…" he whispered.

"Ah…right…" she gasped. "Um…you can get off of me now, Xelloss."

"Are you _sure_? I mean, are you okay, nothing broken?" he asked urgently, but not releasing his grasp.

"Yes…but if _you_ don't watch it, you might not be," she said glaring at him. She met his concerned gazed and hesitated, then looked away. A sparkly object snared her attention. Lina struggled to free one arm and reached for the shiny metal…a ring. 

"What's this? Oh…" she muttered as she recognized the delicate markings of Zelas' syndicate ring.

"Keep it," Xelloss said softly.

"It's yours. It was your _mother's_! I can't!" Lina said as they both sat up.

"I wish you would," he said quickly. "To remember the time you saved my life, and I saved yours…please?"

She nodded and pocketed the ring. "We'll discuss this later…" she managed before Gourry, Zel and Luna stumbled over to see if they were unharmed.

Soon, more help arrived and transports arranged. All the kids and the detective and Luna were heading for Filia's settlement. McGywn's jurisdiction extended into the Ancient territory only temporarily, so he had Jillas and Gravos transported to Filia's settlement where Milgasia gave him free reign to arrest and try them. 

"Milgasia has already been transported back there and I understand that Dr. Adams will be waiting there as well. What is it, Zelgadiss?" McGywn asked the disturbed kid.

"Dr. Lester and my father…they have to be there too," Zel whispered.

"Who's Dr Lester?"

Zel looked away toward Xelloss, "His shrink. He's going to need help and so is Rezo, when he learns what has just transpired."

McGywn nodded gravely, "I'll pass that request on, then. Amelia? Your father is meeting with some lawyers and playing spin-doctor. I told him to hold off until tomorrow for his visit. You kids need to recoup in peace at the clan's expense, where accommodations have been prepared for everyone. There will be plenty of time for statements in the morning with well-rested people." 

~*~

Filia was tearfully engaged with her parents while Val was being ensconced at Milgasia's place with Dr. Adams on hand. Then Detective McGywn and Mr. Ul Copt left the house together to secure Jillas and Gravos in a comfortable, but guarded, temporary lockup. The two punks agreed that it was better than all the places they usually hung out and agreed to tell their side of the story after baths, food, and a good night's sleep.

Zelgadiss claimed Filia's mother for a few minutes to ask her if there was a private room for him to speak with his father. 

Mrs. Ul Copt nodded graciously and said, "How about the den, you know the room? Good, because I hear someone at the door now and I think that must be him. I received a call earlier from his driver letting me know that they were approaching the settlement's gate. Will you be all right, my dear? You look bushed."

"I'm not looking forward to this, that's all. Excuse me," he said curtly and stalked off to round up Xelloss and Dr. Lester. 

The psychiatrist was a close associate of Dr. Adams and had come with the doctor by choice and before Zel's request had been made. He sought out his person of interest immediately and stood nearby, listening to Xelloss' conversation with the shaken Filia, Amelia, and Lina. 

"I think he's grown in just a few days! Oopsie! Ah, well you can have that pendant for now, but I don't think your parents will allow you to keep it. Say, Lina, could you slip the cord over my head before he strangles me here? Well, I _would_ do it myself, but both my hands are full of baby boy… Ah, Miss Amelia, thank you. Um, Filia? Do you think it's okay if he chews the cord? It's silk and not dyed, but it _has_ touched my skin…" Xelloss smiled.

"Gods, Xelloss will you lay off that?" Filia slapped him playfully on the arm. "You're the cleanest person I know. Well, not right now… Come to think of it, you are really grubby!" 

"Why thank you, Miss Filia Ul Copt! I feel so much better knowing that. Did you hear that, Quinny? Your big sister—who could use a bath herself, I might add— called _me_ grubby! Of course she can get away with it because she is so beautiful no one would notice, whereas I have to rely on perfect hygiene and good manners to be accepted into this community," Xelloss said mockingly.

Filia touched her face. She had caught a ride to city to meet Zelgadiss and Gourry without a thought as to makeup, hair, attire… and he had called her beautiful in spite of all that. How sweet, poor guy. "Want me to take him now?" she asked.

Xelloss was making faces and silly noises to entertain the baby when Zelgadiss approached him. "Yes he would, Filia. Xelloss. My father's here, would you come with me, please?"

Xelloss handed off the baby, who was still chewing on the wet cord and gripping the syndicate pendant in his chubby hands. "Sure, little brother. I-I don't know what to say to him though."

"Nothing, I'll tell him. You just be there for me. If something comes into your head, which it most certainly will, then you can talk," Zel smirked. He nodded to Dr. Lester hovering nearby. "Thanks for coming…"

"No problem. It was my idea. As soon as Dr. Adams received the call earlier, he contacted me immediately and we both drove our together, although, I have to say, I don't know what the situation is…"

Xelloss pulled him aside and whispered, "Zelas had been alive all this time and had me try and recover some valuables from Val's inheritance before another denizen of evil arrived. Unfortunately, that guy came to rip off the goodies as well. I nearly killed him, but as luck would have it, Zelas shows up, tells me that the guy is my birth father then takes off with him in a helicopter that this other zealous guy blows up. So Zelas was actually alive, but isn't anymore so little changes, but Rezo should know, or so Zelgadiss thinks, right little brother?"

Dr. Lester used the wall for support as he flashed a worried expression in Zel's direction. Zel sighed and looked down, "That, in a nutshell, is correct."

"Zelgadiss?" It was Rezo followed by his graduate student helper, Vurumagen.

Dr. Lester took the student aside and asked him to wait out in the living room with the others for a few minutes, then the foursome entered the den and closed the door. 

Zel had the entire story scripted out in his mind—what he would say, what he'd let Xelloss say, words expressing his regrets and sorrows and…

"They're both dead!" Xelloss cried out the moment the door closed.

Oh, joy…

"Zelas arrived just in the nick of time to stop me from killing the blackest soul on the face of this planet. Ah, the man who sired me, naturally, was this evil incarnate. But as they were flying off into the sunset, a man from the darker side of the clan nailed the 'copter with a submachine gun. FIREBALL! It was magnificent. You should have seen it! It's given me such a feeling of…closure, yes that's the word." 

"So, Dad…" Xelloss danced across the room as Rezo sank, stunned, into a soft armchair, and planted himself on his lap, arms wrapped around the blind man's neck. Xelloss whispered, "I'm going to be okay. I'm a bit worried about you. Wanna talk about it?"

Zelgadiss fell into the matching chair beside his father blushing slightly and feeling embarrassed. Xelloss was much more open about his feelings, and demonstrative, when he was being himself. He cried and kissed, and hugged like…more than Zel thought was right for a guy who was an adult. Right now, Xelloss looked about thirteen, though, and in need of comforting. Well, he wasn't about to save his father. He'd have to learn to take it like…a father. Well, maybe he could help a bit…

"Could I get you a glass of wine?" Zel asked abruptly.

"Yes, that would be nice," Rezo said in a low voice. 

As Zel walked out of the room, Rezo realized then, that he was both boy's final link with family and that their emotional stability relied, somewhat, on his example. He returned the well-meaning hug and was patting Xelloss on the back when Zel returned.

"Well, be warned, this is made here at the settlement. It's from last fall's pressing, whatever that means, and was aged in oak…a Chardonnay, Mrs. Ul Copt told me," Zel said, passing over his offering with an outstretched arm. "Xelloss, give the guy some space, huh?"

Xelloss released his hold and moved onto the couch, "O-kay, do-kay! So Doc, I'm all set!"

Dr. Lester chuckled then led the trio through some heart-to-heart discussions. After an hour, he set down his notepad and said, "It seems to me that you all have already been through a mourning process and now are drained emotionally. What would you say to some dinner and sleep?"

"Bath!" Zel and Xelloss shouted simultaneously. Xelloss giggled, "Do we share, or?"

"You may go first!" Zel coughed. "I'll see about clothes for us. Yours are particularly…dirty." Bloodstained and worse!

Julian had already collected clothes for everyone, gathering donations from the community. Gourry was at Julian's getting cleaned up. Luna, Lina, and Amelia were scattered at neighboring homes for showers and medical attention for their scrapes and contusions. Filia was soaking in her parent's tub. 

Everyone but Val and Milgasia joined the group at Filia's house for a midnight dinner.

"Val's doing fine, considering. He's asleep now and will sleep most of tomorrow, so if you are planning to take his statement, Detective, your meeting shouldn't be scheduled until late afternoon," Doctor Adams said.

Then to Xelloss he remarked, "He told me you de-toxed him and…more. Sometime, I'd like you to share that medication with me."

Xelloss nodded but couldn't stop eating. In fact, none of the kids said a word. They were so hungry and thirsty that eating encompassed the entirety of their attention, even Zelgadiss.

"Now, I'm going to lay down the law," Filia's mother said. "No more talk tonight. I want the girls on the cots in the guestroom and the boys on the fold out couch and rollaway in the den. Luna? I understand Julian's putting you and the detective up at his place, and you, Dr. Adams and Lester will be staying at Milgasia's? Rezo?"

"Mom, give him and his graduate student my room. I mean, it's got two single beds and will make sense. I'll crash with little bro on the daybed. If I don't crash right here," Filia offered graciously.

With all the sleeping arrangements finalized, the evening ended. It had been a very long day.

~*~

There was no breakfast, since no one stirred until after noon. Lunch was served outside, in a help-yourself buffet style. Xelloss ate lightly, then excused himself to go check in on Val and Milgasia. Lina, Gourry, and Amelia were back in feeding form, while Zel picked at a plate and sipped ice tea. Filia was last to emerge from her brother's room, Quinny on one hip.

"Don't ever have kids and try and sleep in the same room as one," She groaned and yawned in rapid succession. 

"I'm not planning to!" Lina said.

"Someday I want two with a lovely nursery that I'd decorate with pictures from Alice in Wonderland," Amelia mused.

"You 'want to' what? Sleep in a nursery with your kids?" Lina looked askance at her friend wondering if Amelia was in her right mind.

"No! I want two kids! A boy and a girl. Doesn't matter which comes first," Amelia answered. 

"Just the husband, right?" Lina said with a wry smile.

"Of, course!" Amelia said. "And we'll live in the cutest brick house with a garden full of flowers and… other things. And I'll be a lawyer, at first. Then a lawyer-mother, then maybe serve the community in office."

"Wow, you've been plannin'," Gourry said with admiration.

"Yes I have! Daddy always taught me to plan ahead for the future!" she cried out.

At the word 'Daddy', Zel froze. Damn, he would be coming over any minute. "I need to speak to my father…" he said in passing as he fled the patio.

He nearly collided with Rezo by accident inside the house. "Is that you running in the house like a wild thing?" Rezo snorted at his flustered son. "Time to make yourself useful and take me over to see Milgasia and Val."

"Oh, yes, sure, glad to…" Zel said, finishing the thought in his head, '…_glad to avoid the mayor at all costs_!'

Milgasia was in a wheelchair, both legs in casts, one over his knee requiring that leg to be supported straight out from the hip. "Hello. Hope you don't mind my remaining seated," he joked weakly.

"Looks uncomfortable," Zel winced. "I don't know if you've met my father yet. Professor Greywords, this is Mr. Milgasia, leader of this clan.

"Call me Rezo, please," the well-dressed gentleman said as they shook hands. "May I see Val?"

Dr. Adams, doing door duty, nodded and led the group to a spare room, which by the decorations appeared to be Val's half-time residence.

"Nice posters," Zel smirked at the wall covered with dark heavy-metal rock band pictures.

Xelloss had been sitting by Val in a chair, now stood as company arrived, and graciously allowed Rezo to have the seat.

Val gripped the older man's hand a moment, "Hey, it's DAD!" He chuckled and coughed. "Uh, Xelloss, pass me the water, will ya? Thanks, dude."

Rezo and Val chatted about how Val felt and how he was holding up. "Funny, I don't want none of that shit the fight was over, but I gotta do somethin' with it all, huh?"

"I believe that Mr. Ul Copt and Mr. Milgasia would both be excellent advisors. You should listen to their counsel before taking any action," Rezo said.

"You too? You'll help me too, won'cha?" Val asked.

Rezo nodded. He was 'Dad' to all three, in a way. It felt good, somehow, to be needed and respected by these young men when most fathers he knew were complaining about being unable to communicate with their teenagers. "Of course. I'm just down the street," he stopped abruptly realizing his error. _That_ house was no longer standing. "…and around several corners…"

Val smiled, "Yeah, gotta get that place finished now."

Xelloss had been staring out the window, listening. "Can Gourry really get it done before school starts?"

"Nah, but close enough. We got other places to hang while paint dries. Paint… So, how're we gonna chose colors and carpeting?" Val asked.

"I don't care," Zel said curtly. "Anything will do for me."

"Naturally," Xelloss smirked, then ignoring his disinterest, continued, "We could let the girls choose for us…" Xelloss smiled. That would get Zel's ire up if nothing else. 

It did. Zel snorted.

Val frowned, "Ad-vise. They might ad-viiiise us. We get final say."

Rezo chuckled, "That's how you think it works? Which one is it you're so fond of, Filia? Oh, ho…well…"

Xelloss piped up, "Val can stand up to anyone! Except her…_and _Lina, of course, which leaves him Amelia and Sylphiel to lord over!"

"Oh, like yer any tougher!" Val growled. "You're the biggest _wimp_ there ever was, worse than the poor scarred boy over there!"

"Leave me out of your childishness," Zel muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I never claimed to be tough!" Xelloss retorted. "But after they all have had their say and leave I can buy whichever color I want and paint it myself, if needs be. They'll never know the difference."

"They _might_…" Val grinned, his eyes conveying meaning he didn't say with Zel's father in the room.

Milgasia rolled his eyes and said to the other men present, "I was stuck in the car with those two for hours at a time. They never let up! And now look at me!" He sounded beleaguered, but was smiling.

Rezo broke up the playful, verbal sparing with a question to Xelloss, "So…how are you doing?"

"Me? Oh, fine really. I've decided that as soon as Sylphiel gets back from Japan, I'm going to ask her out…on a date…with just me," Xelloss smiled.

"Oh?" Rezo chuckled slightly. "Well that's nice, but I was wondering more about your injuries. I should have known better."

Xelloss shrugged and smiled more, "It's time I lived my life and did something for me! I want to move on…get my life under my control…and, ah… Hey, it's just a date I'm talking about, Val-_ly_-boy!"

"I wasn't sayin' nothin'! Think her Dad'll approve?" Val smirked.

It was Zel that gasped, "Shit… _he's_ here. I am _so _dead…"

Milgasia riveted his eyes on Zelgadiss, "_Who_? **What**?"

Rezo chuckled, then laughed, "Oh, nothing to worry about for the rest of us, Milgasia. He's in some trouble with the Mayor. Letting the Mayor's little daughter get into this mess, when he'd promised to send her home and keep her safe. Right, son?"

"He's not a forgiving man…" Zel groaned. "Whether it was my fault or not, he'll never blame Amelia. And I tried, I really did!"

"Save it for him! I couldn't care less. You're a good boy, I _think_, and that little girl is a strong-minded one. He's not likely to do much," Rezo said.

"He might! He could make her quit the band," Zel said gravely. 

"That's right, I could!" boomed the voice of Mayor Phil from the door to Val's crowded room.

Oh, joy…

Zel stood and turned toward the giant bear of a man. Just kill me now and be done with it. To his credit, although he couldn't meet the man's bushy-browed eagle-eyes, he did greet him. "Hello, Sir."

"Zelgadiss! I was looking for you," Phil bellowed.

Gulp! "Ah, yes…I suppose you were," Zel said lamely.

"Let me refresh your memory, young man," the Mayor began. He withdrew a tiny tape machine and pressed 'play'. A muffled, nasal version of Zel's voice issued form the small box, "_What? No, **I promise not to get your daughter into some kind of trouble.** Neither one of them! Oh, come on… I really need to… Gourry HAS to talk to Lina and the detective was needing to ask her about this, um… big axe we found. **Okay, I promise. ** Thank you Sir. Yes, I will. Good bye."_

"From what I understand, there are warrants out for your AND MY DARLING DAUGHTER'S arrest for breaking and entry into POLICE property and stealing a car! And that's just the _icing_ on top of the dangerous mess you drug her through! Five people _died_ on that mountain! _She_ could have been one of them! Did you ever stop to think about that? She's just a little girl. She looks up to you and trusts your judgement, for whatever reason that is I do not understand."

Zel winced under the attack, but considered his words before responding. "He died then… the Supreme Elder? I did what I could, but it wasn't enough. I thought I'd stopped the bleeding! We couldn't move him out of the library, but…" Zel stopped and met Dr. Adam's eyes sorrowfully. "I thought it had missed any important arteries, but he was so pale and his pulse was weak. I had hoped…"

Dr. Adams started to say something to diffuse the situation, when Zel turned to the mayor. "I tried. I had a plan worked out to get her back home safely before, well, I did anything stupid. But, not to say you're wrong or anything, however… she's not a little girl, Sir. She's going to be sixteen on her next birthday, but in her mind she's eighteen-- I think that's what she thinks. She's got a mind of her own and is not afraid to use it. And no matter how much you_ think_ she _listens_ to me, everyone here in this room can attest to the fact that she doesn't _obey_ me at all! I do apologize for breaking a promise to you Sir. It was one I should not have made in the first place; the kind I hadn't a prayer in Seyruun to keep."

Zel stood waiting for his sentencing, knowing he had already been tried and convicted.

"Humph! Well, apology accepted, Zelgadiss. But…I'm not happy about this, you understand. There will be some conditions."

"Conditions, Sir?" Zel swallowed nervously. What could he possibly be considering? Oh, no…not the band, please!

"First of all, you may not date her until she is actually sixteen; that is, alone just the two of you. Secondly, I want no more…close intimate contact…" Phil hesitated briefly, as Zelgadiss looked confused for a moment. Then Zel remembered her kissing him.

Zel felt the blood rush to his face. _ DATE_?? Oh, gods…what does this man think we _do_?

"I saw the security tape," Phil said in a low voice, for him.

Zel blinked.

"The sheriff department from the Ancient clan lands sent me a security log from the police impoundment lot, in order to help me identify the culprits who stole the Suburban out from under their noses," Phil enlightened him, although the twinkle in his eye told Zel that the worst was over.

"Remember, I was a hot-blooded young man once myself, so I know what goes on…but this…is my darling daughter we're talking about, understand? Good. Now we have all been requested to join Detective McGywn at the town hall is ten minutes…so…Professor? Nels Lahda just arrived as well, will you be joining us? Fine, I'll walk you over then while the boys stew."

Zel _stewed_ all right, into a puddle of mush.

Val and Xelloss roared with laughter. 

"Hot-blooded? Zel? That man don't know what he's talkin' about! It's his _darling daughter _who's **hot**!" Val teased.

Zel groaned.

"You should be happy, Zelgadiss," Xelloss grinned. "You just got the go ahead from her father to take her out in a few months. It's that what you'd been hoping?"

"I was _hoping_ he wouldn't make her quit the band, that's all. Damn, I hope he hasn't told her the same thing!" Zel gasped

"He doesn't seem like the kind of father to hold much back," Xelloss said.

"You'd think he gave ya a death sentence. Lighten up, Zel!" Val admonished him. "Ya do _like_ her, right?"

Zelgadiss glared at both of his friend's smiling faces. "I don't like being put on the spot, or having my private life being dictated to me…or discussed. Now, I am going. You can join me when you feel like it." And he left the other two snickering behind.

Dr. Adams insisted that Val travel in a wheelchair to avoid overtiring himself, and Xelloss, in turn, insisted that he get to propel the 'chariot', as he called it. 

"It'll be the only chance I get to push him around, you know!" Xelloss smiled.

~*~

The interrogation, recapitulation, and statements to the police took all afternoon and well into the night to complete.

Each person added their input as the story unfolded, starting with Xelloss' notice to accept new orders.

"I wanted to think that if I ignored it, it would go away, but it didn't. When I saw how close to harming my friends she would go…burning down our house and all…I agreed. Zel I told, but no one else. Had she suspected any of my friends knew she was alive, she would have killed them instantly. So I kept that secret…until Zel made me…more than our friendship was on the line. WE were close to damaging the band as well," Xelloss said calmly.

"You should have told ME, that's who you should have told!" Lina barked.

"And when I was threatening to kill Filia, would you have believed me if you knew I was playing both sides? It had to do more than just _seem_ real, it had to _be_ real…and everyone knows Zelgadiss can cover his emotions well, so it worked. But, I get ahead of the story…" Xelloss paused and looked around.

Luna and Nels Lahda were next to tell the group about their interaction with Almayce and his followers. Then, Vurumagen told how he got involved and was able to substantiate many of Milgasia's facts and guesses about what was going on.

The beautiful and deadly heirlooms were laid out upon the table for all to see and to be identified: Gourry's sword, Zelgadiss' sword, Lina's axe, the Red Priest's staff, and the hidden bow, now Val's. Zelgadiss was called upon to explain the markings and how the 'seals' fit together like a puzzle. 

The sad story of the final destruction of all but one of the Ancient Clan was told by Xelloss, as he had been told by his mother. Lina described the diary-like book they'd found and scanned in the record's room, mentioning the term 'golds' and the fear that had brought the writer.

"And, Miss…Filia, you are right about one thing," Milgasia said. "I knew nothing about this… the destruction of Ancient clan by the Cephied Golden clans. I still have a hard time believing--no, stomaching the truth; that in order to get their lands and wealth that other human beings would resort to such…base criminality… and atrocities. 

"That the Clan elders have kept it secret from me and, I'm sure, all the other up-and-coming young clan leaders, is abhorrent and a direct blow to all the clan laws. I am certain that in allowing the older generation to carry out the attacks, they had hoped the secret would die out in a matter of a few more years. Many of those men, I understand, live in the area surrounding the Ancient lands and keep guard to this day.

"Filia, I hope that in the next few weeks you can heal and reflect upon the good things _our_ clan stands for and reconsider your decision to abandon your position as priestess here," Milgasia said. "I'd like the opportunity to speak to both you and Val, please.

Filia nodded, but said nothing. Val had already said he'd talk and listen. He was in no rush to brush off all the kindness the clan had showered on him.

Jillas and Gravos were seated after a dinner break. Xelloss absolved them of any cruelty toward Val and in fact thanked them personally for having assisted him voluntarily in every way to ensure Val's safety. Lina spoke up for Jillas leading her to Val, and Julian and Luna thanked Gravos for his timely save as well. In the end they came off very well, only having to perform community service to the White Shrine for stealing the Red Priest's Staff.

As to the charges laid upon Xelloss by the sheriff on the clan lands… His lawyer, Fribrizzo, explained what charges the White Shrine could apply to their office for false imprisonment, holding a man without due process, refusing medical aid to a visiting priest. The list went on and on. Charges were dropped and no mention of the 'mysterious helicopter' was made after a faulty gas line was discovered.

This followed over into Zelgadiss' unfortunate case. The Suburban shouldn't have been impounded in the first place, but he did destroy property and would have to pay a fine. Fribrizzo encouraged Zel to do it since, 'you certainly can afford it and it would go a long way to improving relations with their office.' Zel did. Xelloss felt generous and donated a handsome sum to the 'build a new police station' fund, just for fun.

No charges were filed against Lina, but Gourry and Filia had a huge bill to contend with concerning a particular neglected rental car. Val insisted that he pay for that, considering that they had incurred it while hunting for him. 

Val recompensed many people and agencies for their time and help in saving his life, including: helicopter service, doctor bills, search parties, and ultimately, the restoration of the Ancient temple. The Ancient clan settlement was turned into a memorial with tours and markers. The tunnels were closed off and the library and records rooms were reconstructed above ground near the temple for the use of historians and researchers. This didn't happen overnight, but it did happen in his lifetime.

The story of **the end** was told by Lina, who seemed to be the only one willing to describe the events at sundown. It had been surreal, like a dream, and awful like a fantasy enactment gone badly. Xelloss stared vacantly out the window, silent and still. He didn't listen. He didn't need to. He'd been there.

When Lina stopped, everyone looked at him. He must have something to add, right?

"I'd like some ice cream, for dessert. Anyone else?" he smiled.

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Twelve. ~*~


	13. Chapter 13

**The Slayers:** **Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel**

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Thirteen

It was cooling down now that it was well past midnight. The rich smells of honeysuckle and the bloom of lush growth settled in with the less welcome whine of mosquitoes. This was not Seyruun, the cosmopolitan city-state; this was the settlement in the heart of the clan lands.

Nels Lahda let out a long sigh. "This has been one hell of a summer for all of us. I have missed my dearest Sylphiel lately, but I must say I'm glad that she missed this last debacle."

Mayor Phil grunted in agreement, then added, "She's a good girl, your daughter. Now this time last year, wasn't she having a birthday party?"

"Could be. Her birthday is coming up. Right before school starts. We'll probably have a little get together sometime after she gets back, which is tomorrow on the noon flight, if the plane's on time."

"The kids know about that? I know Amelia was planning on meeting her plane, but I thought that wasn't for another week or so?" the mayor asked. He was a man of duty with a built-in scheduling program active all the time and a calendar hard-wired into his brain. He recognized similar attributes in young Zelgadiss, which had endeared the boy to him (unbeknownst to Zel, of course!).

"I guess I should let them know about the time change. It seems that something came up and her mother and her decided to cut the trip short. Something of a surprise to me, as well…" Nels frowned a bit and said no more. Phil thought it best not to press the head priest for what appeared to be painful details.

"Your daughter is coming from Japan tomorrow, you say?" Rezo asked. "You'd best let the kids know. They'd be disappointed to miss that…one person in particular."

Nels Lahda was about to say something when the call for evening nightcaps chimed, and what he was about to say skipped his mind.

The kids were back at Milgasia's so Val could remain bed-ridden and yet participate in their discussions.

"Okay, so after hangin' with Nahga again for a few days," Lina began. "I got this idea to improve the earlier one I had for a song. I was thinkin' of having her sing it or a duet or somethin' but…It's _called Midnight Blue_. Here's how it goes…"

She hummed a bit and sang a few lines. Everyone approved. Music was a connecting thread that bound the unlikely gang together, that and Lina. 

Naturally, the conversation centered on planning for the next weeks, the last before summer's end and the return to another year of school.

"Well, last year Miss Sylphiel had a birthday party at the shrine. None of you were there because, well, we weren't all friends back then. Strange isn't it? I can't imagine any other people I'd invite, now. Anyway, she's supposed to be back only a few days before school starts so we should plan something to surprise her with, okay?" Amelia asked.

"I was there…" Gourry commented without thinking.

"You were? Why wasn't I invited?" Lina asked, narrowing her eyes at Amelia.

It wasn't Amelia's fault! Zelgadiss sighed and said caustically, "Because _you _weren't her friend. You were her competition. Besides, if you were there then Gourry wouldn't have had enough to eat."

"Very funny. I bet you weren't there either!" Lina snapped.

"No. No, I wasn't. I _had_ been invited but…I wasn't the party animal I am today," he smirked.

"Why you little…" Lina said, preparing to punch Zel's smug expression off his face.

"I'm sure she'd invite us all this time, Miss Lina!" Amelia interceded on Zel's behalf. "So… what should we do for her? She's always the one to bake the cake!"

"Why don't you let Zelgadiss and me take care of the cake, okay?" Xelloss smiled. He removed his glasses and wiped a lens with a shirttail. "There's another thing I have to do…I ran out of lenses again. Why am I the only one who has to wear glasses, huh?"

"Because the Gods want you to suffer the most, naturally," Zel said. "So, Xelloss, chef du pastry, where are we going to find a kitchen to do the cooking? And, more importantly, have you ever baked a cake before?"

Xelloss adjusted his glasses then giggled, "That's a secret!"

Val interrupted, "Ya know, it's almost someone else's birthday…" He nodded toward Filia who was sitting at the side, oddly silent.

"Hey, Fil? When's your birthday?" Lina shouted.

Filia smiled, "Labor Day. Ain't that a riot! Everyone take's it off, so none of my friends were ever able to make it to a party and school always started the next day!"

"Oh, that's too bad!" Amelia commiserated with her. "I have an idea…Miss Filia? Would you mind celebrating a little early and sharing your party with Miss Sylphiel?"

"A party?" Filia mood improved. "Would you really do that, for me you guys?"

"Yeah, what the hey? A party is what we need, right guys?" Lina chuckled.

They all agreed, and started a plan. They would have it in the park or on the shrine grounds, if Sylphiel's father would allow it.

"So, then, what should we get Miss Sylphiel? Should it be a group thing or individual?" Amelia wondered aloud.

"Oh, don't much matter what we give her," Val leered at Xelloss. "What she wants, only Xelly-boy here can give her…"

And Xelloss blushed. It was maybe the second time he had in more than a year, but he did, amid hoots and hollers from his quick-to-tease-the-trickster friends.

Xelloss had to hide his face with his arms and run out of the room to escape them, his friends, his best friends. Zelgadiss was sent out to drag him back, without an apology, of course. Guy-friends don't apologize for getting even, and Val and Zelgadiss had a lot of ribbing to dish out to even the score. In fact Zel whispered, "That's what you get for mooning over girls all the time…"

"I don't '_moon_'! What is '_mooning_' anyway, where did you dig up that archaic term from?" Xelloss asked.

Val heard him as they reentered the room, and started laughing, "Hey, Zel! Show him what '_mooning_' means! Heh, heh, heh…"

Zel blasted Val with a dirty look, "Shut up!"

"Gods, please spare us!" Lina roared.

More silliness ensued. So where were Milgasia and the two doctors? Not at _that _house! Julian had invited them over to his place with Luna and the other unattached mid-twenty to mid-thirty year olds. All the old FOGs (funky old guys) were settling back with the Ul Copt's for a few minutes before deciding what to do and whether or not to go home. After a few telephone calls, it was decided that 'the boys' (Gourry, Xelloss, and Zel) could camp out at Milgasia's place so that Nels Lahda and the Mayor could have their beds in the den. That drove Milgasia to do some telephoning of his own. Straightway, he found a friend willing to rent out his cottage to the doctors and their clan leader for next to nothing. That settled, everyone packed up their belongings and moved to their new lodgings. 

Sometime in all the comings and goings, Amelia asked Nels Lahda about using the shrine for a combination birthday party for his daughter and Filia. That's when he informed her of Sylphiel's change of plans. He also gave her permission to hold a party at the shrine.

"Everyone! I just found out that Miss Sylphiel's changed her flight and is landing tomorrow afternoon!" Amelia cried out.

Another planning session resulted in Val letting Gourry borrow his big Suburban to drive all the kids to the airport tomorrow. Filia could stay at Lina's and Val would either stay overnight at Gourry's, depending on his health, or get a ride back to the settlement with someone as yet undetermined.

"I could probably drive you and your car back," Filia said. "I mean, I have my license, but I've never driven anything that big."

So things were left unsettled but good enough for them. By this time, it was late and Val was pretty whacked out. Dr. Adams jogged over to check his temperature and give him some pain relievers and instructions _to go to bed at once_! Xelloss and Zel agreed to let Gourry have Milgasia's room, while they each took a bed in the spare room. In about twenty minutes, they were all out cold. It had been a _very_ busy week and tomorrow they were going home, at least those that _had_ homes to go _to_!

~*~

It wasn't so long ago that they were all at the airport to see their friend off. They were jubilant then, full of excitement and confidence from their successful run of gigs. Now they were subdued. Val, in a wheelchair to reduce his activity, sported bruises and lacerations which when combined with his regular punk attire gave him an especially frightening appearance. They all took turns pushing him through the airport and up elevators, and strangers gave them a wide berth.

Thankfully, the plane landed on time. Nels Lahda was to meet his wife's party outside the customs area, then bring them to the Slayers convention to socialize while he bothered with the bags. And he knew there would be bags, _lots_ of them.

"There she is!" Gourry shouted. "I can see her and her dad and a short lady that must be her mom, huh? And…some other people…"

"Huh?" Lina grunted. "Where? Where?"

"Oooooooooo! There they are, over there! The tall one, that's Gourry!" Sylphiel could be heard squealing to a boy a few inches taller than herself. "Hi! I'm Baaaaaaaack!"

"Oh! You all came! OH MY GODS WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU, Val?!" she screamed.

"I went rock climbin' and ended up spel-unc-king," he growled. 

She gave him a confused look for a moment, then brightened, "Oh, well I have the BEST news! Come here, Tarou-kun! Everyone, this is Tarou Yamada, my fiancée!"

Shocked best describes the average of her friend's reactions.

Xelloss, who had hung back at first, was standing in front of Gourry, when she made her announcement. He nearly fainted. He didn't, but he fell back onto Gourry, who nimbly supported his weight and whispered, "Steady there, Xelloss."

What Gourry wanted to do and say, Lina did.

"What? Your WHAT?!" Lina shouted. She pushed her way to the front and planted herself in front of Sylphiel. "Are you _nuts_? NO? Well then, you are the most insensitive _jerk_ on the face of this planet! What am I screaming _about_? You can't _guess_? Are you that damned _stupid_? Remember a sweet guy named Xelloss who you've been fawning over for months? Yeah, _him_! Ever think of _his_ feelings? Don't you think you could have saved the '_news_' until after you'd had a chance to break it to him privately first? WHY? _WHY?!_ Oh, I give up…I just give up. Let's go everybody. I'm sick and wanna go home…"

She grabbed Xelloss by the arm and murmured to Gourry, "We'll take the stairs and meet'cha at the car, okay?"

Gourry nodded and jingled the car keys nervously in his pockets. He would have done the same, but Lina had beaten him to it. Probably better having it come from Lina, he decided. He pushed Val towards the elevator with Filia running alongside panting. 

"We should wait for Amelia…" Filia gasped.

"Zel'll get her. He knows where we're parked," Gourry said. He shook his head and said, "I just don't get why Sylphiel would go and pull somthin' like that on us…on him in particular…"

Meanwhile, Amelia launched into a flourish of good-byes and 'I'm sorry's' of weak sincerity, but intended to cover for her friends' abruptness and rudeness to the innocent young man fresh from Japan and caught in the middle. Zelgadiss snapped out of his trance as Val was being wheeled away by Gourry. He strode up to Amelia, pressed a hand to her back, and pushed her toward the elevator.

"We should leave them to sort out their affairs, Amelia. I don't think her father was prepared for that announcement either," Zel told her in a low voice. 

Gourry held the elevator, and the five kids stared at anything but one another inside the small compartment.

"Um…if anyone can help him now, it's Lina, ya know," Gourry said.

Zel nodded. "So, how soon until he can move into Val's place?"

Gourry shook his head, "Not tonight. He'll stay with me…Joey's room, maybe."

"Rezo offered us both the den at his place, but it's not very private or spacious. Of course, it might work for a few days," Zel said resignedly. He was casting about for more suggestions.

"There's plenty of space where I live," Amelia said. "I'll call daddy and explain. He can fix you both up in the coach house for as long as it takes. No strings attached, Zelgadiss." She dropped the 'Mr.' purposefully. "Mr. Gourry's poor folks have enough kids to deal with!"

Zel nodded and she placed the call as soon as she could get a clear reception.

"Well, that's done," she smiled. "It's an option for either or both of you, if you want, okay?"

"Thanks, Amelia," Zel said. "We'll see what he says…"

~*~

"Lina, slow down!" Xelloss begged. "We don't have to run away. No one is following us, no evil bandits or anything."

"Yeah, well…I was so mad if I didn't get her outta my sight I might have just…blown to bits. Sorry, wanna sit?" Lina asked, gasping for breath herself.

"Thank you, yes…ah…where?" he raised an eyebrow. They were still in the stairwell on their way down to the street-level, terminal exit.

"Pick a step, any step," she waved her arm carelessly.

"Oh…'kay," he chose one close to her, but, he gauged, safely out of her striking range.

They sat in a comfortable silence, she not being one to want to draw out anyone else's inner most secrets and feelings, and he too numb at first to know where to start. Loquacious by nature, however, Xelloss decided to begin with a polite word or two.

"Thanks, Lina, for…saying all that and sticking up for me back there," he smiled and readjusted his glasses unnecessarily.

"Hmmm, sure. I meant what I said, too! If I lose her as a friend, I don't care. It was tenuous at it's best anyway. She's certainly replaceable in the band. Hell, Martina has a better voice!" Lina was covering her sympathy with brashness.

"Only when she sings," he chuckled.

"Oh, yeah, that's what I meant," Lina corrected herself quickly. She raised her eyes and stared hard at him, trying to read his mood.

"I'm not going to go nuts, if that's what you're worried about…" he said.

"Ah…not exactly. You just…must feel bad and on top of everything else…it's not fair."

He smiled faintly, "Everyone keeps looking at me, half expecting me to start tearing out my hair or to slit my wrists or something."

Lina smiled, "Well? Are ya?" 

"That's what my mother would have wished, so I won't. I'm…disappointed, of course, but not really broken hearted. I wasn't in love with her, you know. It just seemed like I had no choice at times. She was there and ready, willing and able, as they say…and me too. It's just… I can't understand w-why…" he voice cracked and he hid his face in an attempt to control his emotions. Outbursts like that offended Zelgadiss and probably would send Lina packing as well, and it was a special moment to have Lina all to himself like this and he didn't want to blow it.

Lina shifted uncomfortably on her hard seat. They should get going…

"You're a girl, Lina, can you tell me what's wrong with me? Why nobody…with any brains…likes me? I try, I really do!" His miserable sounding voice cut to her heart. She couldn't meet his eyes at all. 

At last, she found her voice, and said, "I'm not your typical teenage girl looking for a boyfriend so you have me at a disadvantage, ya know. I have no idea what's considered… desirable or even acceptable by most girls. Just look at the covers of some of those magazines at the pretty boys they flaunt and…go for that or…just keep trying to be who you are, Xelloss. If you think about it, you really isolated yourself with just us Slayers last year and Kiki—I almost forgot—and that was a big move wasn't it? All right, then, this year you can branch out a bit. Hey, you and Zel have a chance at both the college crowd and the incoming high school freshman!"

Xelloss wiped his eyes and put his glasses back on, "Sure, of course…um… I guess so."

"Course ya do, cause Lina calls 'em straight! Now let's get to the car before we give the others something else to worry about," she said.

Xelloss gave her a second glance to see if she meant that, but since she was up and on the move, he simply smiled and stood too.

"Lina? Would it be okay if we talked some more?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," she said then stopped abruptly. Xelloss had to leap around and down a couple pairs of stairs to avoid colliding with her. "You can't go back there, can you?"

"To the shrine? No, I don't think I could take that,' he said in a low voice.

"You can stay with me, then. Luna won't mind, I'm sure. I mean, you gave up your place for her and me to stay for weeks, right? You can have the guestroom."

His eyes flew open in amazement, "The one that had all the bean bag chairs in it? Is there even a light bulb in the socket?"

Her eyes narrowed, "Yes…and a mattress on the floor which is reasonably clean…"

"It sounds wonderful, Lina, thank you for offering. It will make my return to Seyruun palatable, um…better than that, really!" he said enthusiastically, but too much so. 

In fact, it was all he could do to control his overcoming urge to start singing and dancing (in his mind he was singing to the tune of the old 'I love Lucy Show' this: _I Love Lina, and she loves me…We're as happy as we can be!_) But control himself he did, even if he had to pinch himself so hard it brought tears to his eyes to stop from grinning like an idiot.

Lina cast a quick look at him before they left the terminal, and thought his eyes looked troubled and watery.

~*~

"So where am I stopping first?" Gourry asked.

For a second, everyone looked at Xelloss, who dropped his eyes.

"Where are you staying tonight, Zel?" Lina asked.

"I'm not sure. The mayor has room enough for any number of us in the coach house," Zel muttered. He was bit embarrassed to sound dependent on Amelia for a place to live.

"Say, that sounds terrific, don'tcha think, Xelloss?" Lina said with a slap to his arm. 

"Huh?" Xelloss croaked coming out of his very pleasant 'Lina' daydream.

"You'll like that better, right? More your style, all clean and stuff. And you'll be able to keep an eye on Zel while you're at it!" Lina said.

No! Trading Zelgadiss for Lina was not better! Xelloss wanted to shout, scream, stop the caaaaaar! But before he could, Gourry started talking again.

"So, I'll drop you all off at Amelia's, okay? You guys got any stuff to move?" Gourry asked. "Uh…besides a load of swords and stuff in the back of this car…

"I have a trunk of crap someplace, but I forgot where now. Doesn't matter," Zel sighed.

"I'm certain Mr. Nels Lahda will send over anything you've left at the shrine, Mr. Xelloss," Amelia said. Had she been caught in his death-glare, she would have been vaporized on the spot.

Why was he going to Amelia's place? He couldn't figure how he'd been transferred from Lina's to Amelia's. 

"Listen, I will feel good enough ta go shoppin' fer clothes and stuff tomorrow," Val said. "I know yer got nothin' but those borrowed things, right? 'Kay, we'll go get clothes tomorrow."

Clothes? Who gives a flying fig about those?! He _had_ been going to stay over at LINA'S HOUSE!

"Not too early," Lina mentioned. "I wanna go, too, but I don't wanna get up before noon."

"Are you sure you're going to be up for all that activity, Mr. Val?" Amelia asked. "We should take the van and have someone else drive, then. Filia? Would you like to stay at my house too?"

Oh Gods, not Filia, _too_! Hmmm… Xelloss smiled with a new idea, "Why not invite Lina over!" 

"Nice try…" Zelgadiss whispered in his ear.

"Oh, Luna has big plans for her little sis," Val snickered. "I heard her tellin' Juuu-lian all about them."

"Lucky for you…" Xelloss grumbled.

"Yeah!" Val grinned. He was happy to have Julian's attention diverted away from Filia for a while.

So to make it easier to sort out the next day's activities, Val stayed with Gourry, Filia remained with Lina to ensure Lina got up, and Amelia took both Zel and Xelloss home to be fed well and pampered. From the time they got into the car, until the last kid was delivered to a home, Sylphiel's name was never mentioned. Not once.

~*~

The next morning around 10:00, Xelloss and Zel sneaked out of the 'castle' and climbed aboard the bus to school. They hopped off a few blocks short of the high school and jogged the rest of the way to Gourry's house.

"Hey! It's like _way_ early to see you guys!" Joey cheerfully greeted his big brother's friends. "Want me ta go wake 'em up for ya? I'll _do_ it! It's _really_ fun, too! It _really_ annoys my brother _so_ much and I'm practicing to be a _real_ pest so he'll wanna move out and then I get his room! A room to _myself_!"

"Better you than me," Xelloss smiled.

"Is there coffee?" Zel asked the retreating young blonde boy.

"I dunno…I drink milk. Mom says it makes you grow!" He giggled and scampered off.

Zel rolled his eyes at Xelloss and sighed, "You have corrupted him and stolen his soul."

"Not possible. Besides, you've known him longer, so it must be you who drives us to the extremes of our personality," Xelloss smirked. "Oh, Mrs. Gabriev, hi-i."

"Good morning boys, would you like some breakfast while you wait? Come on into the kitchen and talk while I cook," she said kindly.

After setting a glass of orange juice in front of each of the boys places at the table, she proceeded to crack eggs into a bowl. Zel counted 11 before she spoke again. 

"Last night, Val and Gourry told us the story of what happened. Xelloss, we are so sorry to hear about the loss of your family. Despite what they did or what they had become, _once_ you must have been a loving family, for you to have turned out so good a young man," she rested her hands on his shoulders and leaned in to kiss his forehead.

"T-thank you…" he barely managed to choke out. He wiped his eyes and got himself under control, for Zel's benefit. "Everyone's afraid to say anything to me about them. I think they're afraid I'm going to have a break down or try to kill myself. But…I'm really okay about it all, not depressed or anything like that. I already thought they'd died and now I'm…relieved that it's over...truly over. Except…"

She waited for him to continue.

"My mother said something to the affect that my inheritance was tied up with that last mission, which I lost…And if so… I don't know how I'm going to pay for…anything, like college…or food… I have nothing right now but my friends," Xelloss smiled slightly.

"My money's yours, you know that," Zel mumbled.

"Hey, ya still got that purple-sparkle kit! That's _someplace_, isn't it?" Joey cried out as he entered the kitchen and fell into an empty chair.

"Oh, yes, my drums. Where _is_ that stuff, Zelgadiss?" Xelloss asked.

"Amelia's, with all the other band equipment," Zel said. "Toast? Dry, please. Um, thank you."

"I wonder if the music store ever placed my order for that new drum set? Good thing I paid for it in full, huh? I'll ask Val when he…" Xelloss began.

"Ask me _what_?" Val growled. His eyelids were a bit puffy and his hair was flying in all directions. "And it better be good fer getting' me up early. Pretty smart of ya ta send the kid. _Him,_ I didn't kill!"

"I…we wanted to go clothes shopping without the female contingency this time," Zel said dryly. "So, we left a note for Amelia and suggested we all meet after lunch. Lina won't be up before then, anyway."

"Makes sense ta me," Val agreed.

Mrs. Gabriev broke a few more eggs.

"Mo-om, permission to take out my little brother!" Gourry shouted. Water was dripping from his yard-long hair as he mopped his face with a towel.

"Save me!" Joey cried and hunkered down between Zel and Xelloss.

Val laughed, "Yer thinkin' those two wimps can save you? You'd be better off beggin' me and I'm barely walkin'!"

"Wimps! We are certainly not wimps!" Xelloss countered.

Zel, remembering how effortlessly Gourry swung his huge family sword-- the one that he could nearly lift off the ground far enough to amputate his foot—said, "Compared to Gourry? Yes, yes we are, Xelloss. He could lay us out on the floor with one swipe of that sword of his, and then sit on us before you or I got off one magnificently executed sword stroke or graceful Karate blow."

Gourry gazed over at Zel. Wow. Coming from Zelgadiss, the compliment felt good. 

Joey looked up at his older brother, sudden admiration beaming from his eyes. "Sorry, Gourry…'bout the water. Guess that wasn't a very nice way to wake ya… _Cool,_ but not nice," Joey said, then grinned.

Gourry smiled, "Yeah, well…clean up the floor and change the sheets and we're even, okay?' He caught Zel's eyes and silently thanked him for the kind words.

"The sheets, _too_?! Awww…" Joey started to complain.

"You **bet** you will, young man," their mother cautioned. "And you'd better be quick, breakfast is almost ready and if you're not here…"

"I _know_! I won't get nothin' 'cause the big vacuum-eaters will suck it all up! Okay, I'm _goin_'!" he shouted and clamored out of his chair. He bounded out of the room, slamming into furniture and doors as his passed through the house.

"What a _Klutz_!" yelled one of Gourry's sisters. "Gods, I can't believe he's _ever_ going to grow up! Oh! Ummm, hi…"

"Dear, could you and your sister finish folding laundry and leave us in the kitchen a little longer. The boys and I are having a talk," her mother said firmly.

"…So we can stop by the store on our way shopping and see about your order. I need to quit formally, too," Val was telling Xelloss quietly.

"We should go and order the paint and carpeting for your place," Gourry suggested. "I could bring the measurements along."

"Please do," said Zel. "The four of us can get that done in half time or better without the…"

"Female part of the group, yeah, I get yer point," Val chuckled. "I take it you've got some complaints with certain ones."

Zel blushed and pretended to be busy eating. Xelloss bit back a teasing remark and simply nodded, then asked, "So, where do we go for clothes?"

"You boys are clothes shopping then? Will you make my son get some new things? He's wearing the only clothes that cover him decently right now…"

"Mom!"

"Here, take this money and get pants and underwear…socks…Oh, dear…you need school things too!" she moaned.

"I like to buy clothes," Xelloss smiled. "It's fun to be able to pick out what I like…and Val knows the best places…"

Mrs. Gabriev frowned at her son. "No tattoos or anything piercing a body part. Other than that…it has to cover more than it reveals."

"Mom!"

"And, since I'm playing everybody's mother this morning…that rule goes for all of you. That includes you too, Val! Get something fun, but spend your money wisely on good quality clothes that will last… Oh, all right, well, get good underwear and shoes at least," she demurred under the astonished looks of the four kids at the table.

Xelloss moved first. He wrapped her in a big hug and kissed he cheek, "Yes, _mom_. No thongs, I promise!"

Zel chuckled and smiled, "Sure…good shoes."

Val patted her on the back, "Okay, Momma Gabriev. I won't damage their minds…much more…"

"Now, leave something for Joey, Gourry. You've had enough! If you're going to do all that shopping before lunch, then you'd better run!" she said, pushing them out the door before her other children descended upon them.

Zel and Xelloss looked at one another and said, "17!"

"Eighteen, I broke one egg before you came into the kitchen," Mrs. Gabriev smiled knowingly.

Xelloss giggled insanely. Zel sighed and Gourry assured him that she could do those 'Jedi mind tricks' as well. From that day forward, Val, Zel, and Xelloss called Gourry's mother 'mom', just as they called Zel's father 'dad', except for Zelgadiss, who always called him 'father'.

~*~

"You know, I did this not that long ago," Zel sighed as they entered the interior decorating store. "You start with the wall color and then the carpeting…and make them lighter than you think or the room becomes a cave, which could be a good thing too."

"Cave. Yeah, sounds depressing. I think I'll go for yellow or orange," Val said wandering off to the paint strips.

"I'm staying with what I had before," Zel muttered glumly. "Then I don't have to think about it."

"What do _you_ think?" Gourry asked Xelloss, hoping to get out soon.

"Stripes! On the diagonal…blue and orange. Oh, wallpaper…" Xelloss gasped and floated to a wall display of assorted papers.

"Oh, joy…"

A young woman sidled up to Xelloss and began asking him questions. She was an employee and quite knowledgeable, Zel recalled from his previous visit with, shudder, Zelas. So, he didn't bother them. Let her try and narrow him down to a single choice in under an hour.

Ten minutes later, Xelloss was calling them all over to give their opinions. Rice paper on the walls and a plush teak-colored carpet with black-lacquer-trimmed rice-paper shades. Very elegant and simple.

"Can you help me?" Val asked the woman, obviously impressed with her taste. 

"Certainly, do you have a color we should stay away from?" she asked to begin with.

"Cave!" all four boys said simultaneously.

By the end of a half an hour, they had an appointment set for the next day. She would be out at the house to come up with plans for the entire house, furniture and all! 

Next, they entered the mall for clothes. They stood just inside the doors and hesitated. Where to go? They wanted to go in, make their purchases, then leave—a quick and painless procedure—but it had been months since their previous encounter and they hadn't been hunting for clothes. Gourry pointed out a directory a quarter mile away, which was as good a starting point as any. 

"All right," Zel smirked. "This place specializes in over-priced skater stuff and nearby…there's the over-priced punk, jock, rodeo-prince, and…no that's a girl's place…I guess for anything ordinary we have to go to one of the large department stores. Shoe places are in-between…Any preferences?"

"Rodeo-prince?" Xelloss wondered aloud as Val took the lead.

"Sure, I figured that one would appeal to ya!" Val scoffed. "Fringes and buckskin!"

Xelloss trotted up beside him, "I didn't say it interested me. I only was wondering what it was! Besides, what's up with 'fringes and buckskin'? Sounds cowboy-like…that's not bad is it?"

Val laughed, "Not on Gourry, but on you…Shit!"

"Oh, I get it…You don't think I look macho enough to pull it off!" Xelloss said.

"That's right, but **I** didn't say it," Val smirked. "Hey, try it out if ya want! You can pull off punk-rocker fine, though."

"That's 'cause he's thin enough to ta look like one of yer druggie types," Gourry said, adding his perspective to the assortment of images.

"Don't forget pale as a sheet," Zel smirked.

"You should talk!" Xelloss shouted. Gourry gave him a warning glance that screamed 'don't go there!'

Xelloss chose to ignore the look and plowed right on in, "You're skinnier than me by pounds! And talk about pale! You're…right. I should get more sun while it's still summer. Let's got to the beach! We can go tomorrow and put off the interior décor-lady to some other day, okay? OKAY?"

Zelgadiss, who was bristling in preparation for some stinging remark concerning his complexion, choked on his own indignation. "Ah…"

"I guess I could do that, the construction job hasn't needed me for weeks. I'll check in this afternoon and, yeah…I could use some vacation," Gourry smiled.

"R & R… I'm ready. Where should we stay? Hell, I'll just buy us a house or somethin'!" Val said.

"That's the spirit!" Xelloss cried out. "How about it, Zelgadiss? You'll come too, please?"

Sighing, Zelgadiss asked, "What do we tell Lina?"

Surprisingly, Xelloss had an answer for that too, "I'll talk to her later. She's pretty sensitive to this whole…Sylphiel thing and will understand if I'd rather not surround myself with other 'couples'."

Zel started to deny his inclusion as a 'couple', but got the point and shut up instead. Amelia was 'paired' with him as per her father's remarks—_symbolically_—just as Lina and Gourry or Filia and Val would be. Without Sylphiel there, Xelloss would be the odd man out—symbolically speaking. 

"We don't need no girls ta have a good time," Val nodded. He would love to see them all romping on the beach in skimpy beach attire, but was sympathetic to Xelloss' case. 

Xelloss smiled and caught his eye, "I bet we'll be able to find _some_, if we try though!"

"So, we need to buy swimwear and towels and sunscreen…" Zelgadiss added to his mental notes.

They stopped at the skater store where Gourry and Val both found pants and t-shirts. Gourry lingered over some accessories while Val considered a hat. One look at him wearing a cap mashing down his livid, green spikes and even Gourry had to chuckle.

Next door at the punk clothier, Val was resolute: they must all get at least one new outfit for band, his treat. "Here, Xelloss, try these!" Val insisted, jamming an armload of things into his arms.

"Okay…"

A clerk, one who had recognized Zel from school assailed Zelgadiss. "I know ya…yer with them … Yer played at the dance, right?"

"Yes, we've been starting for the Suzaku Seven this summer," Zel answered. Here was someone who wouldn't have given a guy like him the time of day at school acting like he was cool. Cool.

"Shit…that's cool… Here lemme show ya some new stuff ya might like. We got yer size, no prob…" the clerk said while motioning to a stack of baggy pants to Zel.

Gourry did need help. He was big and the selection for his size was more limited. Val recommended a couple things, but shirts would be the easiest to find there.

"_Val_!" Xelloss yelled from inside his dressing room. "These are **obscene**!"

Val snickered, "Ah, just come on out and lemme look. The sales guy will find ya somethin' else if it's too much, 'kay?"

Xelloss slunk out of the room. He poked his head out into the store, and said, none too quietly, "These jeans are _so_ tight I can't wear underwear under them!" 

Suddenly everyone's attention was riveted on him.

"And I _certainly _can't sit and play drums in them!" He noticed the attention he'd drawn and frowned. "Bring me a larger size," he demanded, turned and disappeared.

One of the salesclerks jumped and offered to help him with _anything_… "He's pretty hot!"

Val reached out to snag him by the arm before the guy made a mistake, but changed his mind at the last second. "This will be good," he grinned wolfishly. 

"Ah…I don't like this, Val," Gourry said. "The clerk could lose his job."

"Crap, didn't think of that!" Val gasped. "Well, he shouldn't do anything anyway! Okay, I'll go stop whatever…" 

Zelgadiss was having a better time with his things. He chose a long-sleeved mesh shirt and a couple t-shirts. He had to agree with Xelloss; most of the pants were…too tight, too low, too…too.

"Xelloss? Is that you next door?" Zelgadiss asked.

"Yes, I'm waiting for someone to bring me a larger size of pants. I don't know what Val's trying to dress me like, the shirt's mostly open on the sides and…my bellybutton shows…even without the scars its not really me…"

knock, knock

"Someone needing clothes?" the salesboy called out.

"Great," Xelloss said and opened his door.

Gasp!

"What? Oh, pretty awful looking, huh? Well, _I_ certainly didn't choose these, that guy with the green hair did," Xelloss muttered trying to cover up his embarrassment for his clothes.

"Oh…wow…no…you look…_absolutely terrific_ in that," the salesboy gushed openly.

Zelgadiss was curious now. Who could that other guy be? Wisely, though, he stayed where he was, minded his own business, and listened.

An expression of disbelief swept Xelloss' face, "You must be kidding. _This l_ooks _good_? Val, you can go away. He's bringing me new stuff. You've done enough."

Val ignored Xelloss and dragged the salesboy away whispering, "He's got a Blackbelt and good reflexes too, but…he's into girls _only_, so back off, got it?" He took the larger sized jeans and tossed them over the door to Xelloss. "Here, try these, then let's split."

The poor salesguy nodded and rushed away.

Xelloss opened the door to his dressing room and looked around for the salesboy. "Val! Why did you do that?" Xelloss asked, starting to get whiny.

"Because…the guy was more interested in what was in yer pants than the pants," Val said. One look at Xelloss' clueless face, and he continued, "It mighta been funny, but…I didn't want the kid to lose his job over it."

Xelloss made a face, muttered some obscenity, and slammed his door. "Very funny… Go bother someone else now."

Zelgadiss picked through the pile of clothes, separating the keepers from the godawfuls. He smiled thinking how glad he was to have stayed out of that mess. As he left his dressing room, he ran into Xelloss. 

"Get anything?" he asked.

"Oh, yes, in the end I have a new shirt for the band and a couple okay t-shirts, but…I need to do more. How about you?" Xelloss asked.

"About the same. My tastes are pretty simple, but this stuff's fun, like wearing a costume so my other persona can come through," Zelgadiss said.

"Me too! I need some comfortable clothes also. Gourry? You find a shirt?" Xelloss asked.

"Yeah, but that western shop? Across the way, over there? Says it carries extra-tall. I think I'll look there too," Gourry smiled as he paid for his purchase.

"Fine, Val, you interested?" Zel asked.

"Oh, of course he is," Xelloss smiled, then smirked at Val, asking, "You ride horses out at the settlement, don't you? So, let's all take a look."

They had to kick Val through the door, but once they were in, he settled down and followed Gourry peacefully. Zelgadiss passed the time trying on hats. Xelloss found a black, suede leather jacket with fringe galore, and bought it! Gourry rounded up some shirts and some jeans for working at construction sights that fit great and were made of very durable fabric. Val, to everyone's amusement, bought a pair of boots, black leather with snake skin decoration.

Val and Xelloss congratulated one another on their extravagances on their way out the door. Val now stood taller than Gourry and his heels made a little clicking noise when he walked…so cool. Xelloss fluttered. Next stop, the BIG DEPT department store, one of a large chain throughout Seyruun and the surrounding city-states.

Zelgadiss had a list of what he needed. Xelloss and Val had a similar one…everything. Gourry found a salesman, "This is gonna make your day…" 

The salesperson brought over two more and insisted that they begin with proper measurements. Val was emphatic; he would do it only if Gourry agreed to as well. "Okay…" he said reluctantly, knowing it was the only way they'd ever get out of the place before lunch, and a late lunch at that. 

They entered the names and numbers onto their database and began selecting styles and colors. "Will you be wanting suits as well?" the head salesperson asked.

Before Val could say 'no', Xelloss said, "Yes, we have some places to go where a suit will be required and… one sports coat and two pairs of slacks… shoes, socks… What is it, Gourry?"

Gourry was shaking his head, "I didn't bring that kind of money with me, you know that. What's with the weird looks, guys?"

This time it was Val who said, "That's a secret!" 

Gourry punched him playfully and chuckled, "No, really…"

"We're in league with yer ma, Gour-ree," Xelloss teased with a silly accent. "We doin' this fer her. Now don't you worry none!"

Gourry started laughing and gave up. If buying him some clothes would make his friends feel like they were doing something nice for his mom, well, he wouldn't stop them…this time. What he didn't know was anything about the plans they were making to thank his folks for fixing their house and putting up with all of them. That would come after the trip to the beach, and would require a suit.

Zelgadiss was quiet. He felt strange choosing a complete wardrobe all at once and having a personal attendant waiting on him. He knew he was unusual looking, but the young man helping him was polite and never seemed nonplussed by it. He did ask a few questions, though, "We don't often have so many guys needing…complete wardrobes."

"No, I wouldn't imagine that you would," Zel said. He felt a bit sorry for the guy and added, "We were sharing a house and it burned down."

The young salesman's eyes widened, "Oh, I saw the pictures on the front page of the paper almost a month ago! That was…you guys…you're in that band…the Slayers. That's awesome… the band…not the fire, I mean. I don't know what I'd do if it happened to me? All my stuff! I, er…it must be tough for you." 

Zelgadiss simply nodded. "Listen, I'm not very clothes-conscience or fashion-aware, so…"

"Don't you worry. We'll go through each section and pull some things. Try them on and see what suits you. Um, just curious, but…is your hair natural? I have a friend, well me actually, who'd like to try that look." the salesman asked.

Zelgadiss sighed, but smiled slightly, "It started dark brown, but I was in a chemical accident which did that to my hair and gave me the scars." There, with that out of the way the poor guy could probably get on with the job.

The salesperson nodded, "Too bad…doesn't sound easy to reproduce. Oh, well, I guess I'll just stay brown!" He said it lightly and smiled. "Swimwear too? This way…"

~*~

Val was wasted. He shouldn't have been that active at all, but he knew it needed to be done. Gourry found him a chair and made him rest, then found Zel. "Val's gotta go home.

Zel walked over and spoke to Val a moment, then found the salespersons. "We're done. They're ringing it up now. Gourry, bring the car around to this door and we should be paid up and ready to leave."

When the charges were cleared and the multitude of packages assembled, Gourry loped in and told them the car was right outside. Gourry led Val out and settled him in while Zelgadiss directed the sales people who were carrying the dozens of sacks. Xelloss collected business cards and a promise from the tailor to have their suits, slacks, and sport coats ready in a few days. 

"You feel warm, Val. That fever's not comin' back, is it?" Gourry asked.

"No, just hot an' bothered. Turn up the AC!" Val suggested. "Ah… no stoppin' by the music store today. I'll just call in later…"

Gourry cranked up the air conditioning. 

"Better, I'm not really a summer person, I guess," Xelloss maintained. "More lizard. I don't like it too hot or too cold. Hope it's foggy at the beach."

"Or dark!" Zel agreed. "We could sleep all day and only go out at sunset. That would be fine with me. Don't lizards like to bake in the sun to warm up?"

"Some more than others. Xelly must be one of them _shade-_lizards, or _lounge_ lizards. You ever get sun on that skin?" Val asked.

"Who? Me or Xelloss? Me? Not by choice. Even with sunscreen, the scars get redder. I just cover up some and…don't worry. I'll be fine. Val, you're the only one with a tan, although Gourry's a close second. Xelloss, you…"

"…Will have to bathe in sunscreen, I know. Once we get to Gourry's place, can Zel and I borrow your car, Val?" Xelloss asked.

"Yeah sure, fill it up too, will ya?" Val said, then sighed. "I'll just go in and sleep… Wake me for…dinner, if I miss lunch." He climbed out of the car and stumbled the rest of the way into the house.

"Hope he didn't over-do it," Gourry said. "Want lunch first?"

"Actually, no," Zel answered. "I'd rather go get the rest of the stuff we'll need for a beach trip, plus some other necessities. I'll go alone."

"Just a minute," Xelloss shouted as he bounded after Val, "Wait for me, Zelgadiss. I'll be just a _minute_!"

Gourry shrugged, "I'll stay and check on Lina. See if there are any messages. It's later than I thought."

Xelloss passed Gourry going in on his way out, "You coming or going, Gourry?"

"Stayin'."

"Later then!" Xelloss waved and slid into the passenger seat beside Zel. "So, you finally get to drive the 'baby'. That's what Milgasia called it. Val told me the basics of what he needs, until we get into our place. Sounds good, huh? OUR place."

Zel nodded, "I'm glad the university starts later than the high school. I'm not at all ready to start thinking about the science and math classes we'll be taking there."

"Ugh! Why did you have to bring _that_ up? No, I'm not going to stress out about that now. I'm going to take a vacation at the beach… Which reminds me…Mrs. Sherrer, the lady your dad's shacking up with, ha, ha, ha., sharing his house with then, like that better? Well, her sister runs a place at the beach, condos mostly, but there's a couple houses. What's their phone number?" Xelloss asked.

Zel recited it from memory.

"Hello? Xelloss here. We've been out buying clothes and wallpaper. Is you roomie there? Housekeeper, _right_. At the deli? Do you know the number there? No, I'm not going to bother her…Oh, well, I guess I was. I'll stop by instead. No, its okay, we were thinking of taking in some beach and R & R and I remember her saying that her sister has some rentals. You will? Thanks! I don't know where I'll be, but you can just call Zel or me. Val's resting. Wow, say thanks, Sir—I mean, Dad! Yeah, well…bye!" 

Xelloss closed up his phone and said, "He told me they had already reserved both houses for a couple weeks-- some chemistry department thingy-- but that the dates got moved around so we can have one for a few days, like we wanted. Only one problem."

"And that is…"

"Your dad and his housekeeper will be in the smaller house."

"And Beast?"

"We get him too," Xelloss wrinkled up his nose. "Wet dog, yummm."

Zel's cellphone rang. A loud, angry ring.

"Hello? Oh…yeah. So, you talked to Gourry and… Oh. Just a minute," Zel handed the phone to Xelloss and told him, "Here, it's for you. Lina wants to know how come she isn't invited along after we promised to do so the next time we went."

Xelloss stuck out his tongue, "Thanks, little brother, I guess I'm the only one with… Hi, Lina! I'm sorry…Yes, well it was my fault, yes… No, I like you lots, you know that, but its just that… Yeah, I know…Yes… um…"

Zel parked the car outside the drugstore, pulled out Xelloss' cellphone and called home, "Hi, its me. Father, I have a bit of a problem. Lina called and wants to be included. Yes, I'm sure Amelia and Filia will want to come as well. It's **Lina**! No. No, I can't, Gourry couldn't, and you know Xelloss will cave in too." Zel held up a hand to Xelloss and mouthed 'stop'. "What? Okay, thanks a lot. I know, I owe you big…"

Zel closed up his cellphone and gave Xelloss a pathetic look, "Tell Lina we have a little house for her and two friends, that's all it will hold, though."

Xelloss smiled, "Good news! You and two friends are cordially invited to share your own beach house next door to ours, at our expense, of course. Who? Oh, courtesy of Zelgadiss' travel agency… Tomorrow 10:00 AM. Why? Because…that's a secret… Bye!"

"I hung up on her, Zelgadiss, but she was satisfied with the plans. Whew! That was a close one," Xelloss smiled, closed his eyes and leaned back. Zelgadiss slapped Xelloss' cellphone onto his open, outstretched palm. Xelloss stuffed it into his pocket and asked, "What now?"

"We get the rest of the things that make life on this planet possible."

"Toothpaste, shampoo, sunscreen, and deodorant?" 

"Yes. We'll get the personal items we need and…how about your contacts?" Zel asked as they left the car.

Xelloss withdrew his cellphone from his pocket and tapped in a number. "Phoning that in now…Yes, I know I need to have them checked, but that can wait for two more weeks according to my memory of my last appointment. Yes, I thought so. Yes, I have very good memory. Make the appointment, too, if you would. Fine, I'll remember that! So, when will they be ready? Okay…thank you." Xelloss folded up his cellphone as they entered the store. "I can pick them up around five. Do you think we need to bring food to the beach?"

"What do you think?" Zel asked. "We'll buy it in town and let Lina do the choosing. It's less painful that way."

"Zelgadiss?"

"What?"

"Does this make us wimps?"

"Changing our plans to accommodate Lina, you mean? No. Just smart and proves that we value the right things," Zel answered.

"Like our friendships," Xelloss smiled.

"Yes, and our lives…" Zel smirked.

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Thirteen. ~*~ 


	14. Chapter 14

****

The Slayers: **Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel**

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Fourteen

After dropping off Val's necessities at the Gabriev's, Zel and Xelloss had Gourry drop them off at Amelia's, their temporary home.

From the car Gourry asked, "I'll meet ya over at the house, yer new place… Val's place… after dinner to go over stuff, okay?"

"Call us before you leave?" Xelloss asked.

"Sure, Val and me will pick you up, but we'll call first," Gourry agreed and drove away leaving Zel and Xelloss with a mountain of bags and packages to heft. Luckily, the coach house was not far from the Mayor's mansion. Once, it had been the building which housed the Mayor's fine horse-drawn carriages, but that was a long time ago. Now, it stood as an unattached building separated by tennis courts and a spa, and connected to the mansion by a stone pathway. Perfect. It afforded the boys privacy, while allowing them quick access to company and a kitchen.

"I'm taking a shower," Xelloss announced. He dropped his bags of new clothes near one of the beds, tore open the sack of toiletries, and disappeared into the bathroom.

Zelgadiss barely had time to drop his belongings on the floor before having to answer the light rap at their door.

"Hello, Amelia."

"Hi, Mr. Zelgadiss! I saw all those piles of things you were unloading from the car and hurried to help, but it looks like you got it all in without me," she said cheerfully.

"_In_… but until we move into our own place most of the things should just stay in the sacks," Zel answered.

"Have you had lunch? It's late enough for an early dinner! There's tons of stuff for sandwiches in the kitchen, and no one there, if you'd like to do some of your own cooking, that is…" she smiled. Gotcha this time, Zel!

Zel's eyes lit up. "Yes, I'd like that! I was going to clean up after Xelloss, but...He may be an hour in there. I'm going. I'm going to fix us lunch…you too? Good, lunch for three. No, you stay here and let Xelloss know…you'll probably have to guide him to the kitchen too. Thanks, Amelia!" Zel smiled quickly and scampered off like a happy puppy.

When Xelloss stopped singing, checked that his hair was perfect, and wrapped a towel around his waist, he opened the door from the bathroom and shouted to the absent Zel, "Your turn! I feel almost normal now! I can't wait to put on clean clothes and…"

He gasped, "**Amelia**! Don't _move_… Do _not _turn around!"

"He, he, he…"

"Stop giggling!" he insisted, a bit peeved. "What are _you_ doing here and where is Zelgadiss? _DON'T TURN AROUND_!"

Amelia had seated herself with her back to the bathroom door on purpose, and she had no intention of turning around and embarrassing them both, but…she found his reaction funny enough to send her into a giggling fit. Xelloss gave up and simply ransacked a couple of his bags for underwear, shorts, and a t-shirt. "Okay…I'm decent."

Amelia turned and covered her eyes, "Sure?" She giggled a bit more.

Xelloss crossed his arms over his chest and smiled, "I'm dressed."

She uncovered her eyes and smiled, "Oh! You look nice! I'm here to lead you to food. Mr. Zelgadiss is preparing our lunner now."

"Lunner? Oh, I get it lunch x dinner. Great! I'm starving," he said. He noticed that she was nearly at the main house, and he started skipping to catch up with her. "Sooooo, Ameeeeee-liaaaa! Do you think this color green looks good on me?"

She nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, I do! Oh, and thanks for the beach house. I think the beach is my favorite place to go and not have to work or anything!"

"So, it's okay with your dad?" Xelloss asked.

"Yeah, Miss Lina told him Professor Rezo was going to be…that's not true, is it?" Amelia frowned.

"Noooo…" Xelloss smiled sensually. "Does it matter? He gave up his place so you girls could have a place to yourselves, so it's _almost_ as good, right?"

"We'll see…" she smiled and winked back.

Xelloss chuckled a bit. He liked Amelia, as a friend, and thought Zel was lucky to have her like him a bit more than that. Why his friend didn't pursue her he couldn't really understand. She was funny, smart, and cute…and loyal, honest, a person of integrity and courage. Yes, Amelia was terrific and perfect for Zelgadiss, he thought.

When they entered the kitchen, they could hear Mayor Phil talking to someone—Zel, of course.

"All right, just so we have everything straight. That Lina, leave it to her to… Ah, my darling daughter and…Xelloss. You look better today, young man!" Phil boomed with his mighty lungs.

"Thanks, I'm thoroughly clean at last!" Xelloss chuckled. "Smells good, what's for lunner?"

Zel gave him a quizzical look, "Stir-fry. There was already some steamed rice so it came together fast. Wait--lunner? Oh…lunch and dinner combined, huh?"

"Yes, that's one of my words!" Amelia cried out. Zelgadiss was smiling and she had something to do with it!

Xelloss looked at the Mayor, "Will you be joining us, Sir?"

"Yes, Zelgadiss and I were just discussing the beach trip. It seems your friend Lina gave me some incorrect information, which has been cleared up. Yes, my dear, you'll still be able to go. I am glad that the misinformation wasn't intentional, and that Zelgadiss has been very up-front about it all."

Zel dished up bowls of rice while Amelia found glasses and lemonade. Xelloss dug up chopsticks and forks. He gave Zel a sly grin and whispered, "Up-front? How refreshing, better than ass-backward." 

Zel nudged him out of his way, muttering, "I explained that it began as a guys-only thing, but that Lina had been promised a beach vacation too. Well, then one thing led to another. Its not that we didn't want you along, Amelia, but…things were suddenly more complicated." 

The mayor stared at the kids for more explanation. Xelloss cleared his throat, "I guess Amelia didn't share the news with you yet?"

Amelia shook her head, "I haven't had a chance to talk to you daddy about anything since we've been back."

Xelloss said, " Then let me be the one with the breaking news story! We all met Sylphiel at the airport like we planned, but… **She's engaged**! She brought along some guy from Japan and introduced him as her fiancée! Her father looked stunned, but her mother was pleased, I think. I mean…_she_ had to know, right? Maybe her father knew too but I don't think he expected her to just blurt it out to…all of us like that. She should have kept it private, for his sake, until her family could decide what to do." 

"Well, of course she should have!" Phil agreed whole-heartedly. "That young thing, engaged?! That's preposterous! Nels Lahda must be beside himself right now. That man had his worries with her in the past, but lately," Phil's dark eyes scanned Xelloss' purple ones briefly, "…he was thinking that her judgement was improving. Well, I'm very sorry to hear the news. I take it then that you're not inviting her on this beach trip?"

Amelia gave Xelloss a quick glance to be sure he was not too upset before saying anything more, "That's right, daddy. We haven't talked to her since Miss Lina went ballistic at the airport and… Miss Lina told me that she doesn't want Miss Sylphiel in the band anymore. Anyone who would treat her family and Mr. Xelloss so…thoughtlessly! Daddy, she was leading Xelloss on! We all thought that she liked _him_! Can you imagine anything more _unjust_?!"

Before Amelia could get carried away with her 'justice' theme, Xelloss stopped her with a hand to her arm. "It's okay... I _was_ going to ask her out, but…I mean, it wasn't like Val and Filia. I certainly wasn't in love with her, but I thought she was more principled…like you, Miss Amelia!" Xelloss smiled. 

No one had anything to add. As Xelloss finished his first serving and helped himself to a second, he said to his other friend, "Zelgadiss? This is good. I really missed your cooking."

Zel sighed, "Me, too…"

"Well, there was a time not too long ago when I was afraid I'd never taste your cooking again. Our friendship was really on the line then, I'm glad you forgave me," Xelloss said.

Zel could barely answer a second time, "Me, too…"

Xelloss had learned that life was too short to put off saying the things that needed to be said, the nice things, the sincerely meant things. He decided that he should begin that day with these two friends.

~*~

Gourry walked the other three guys through Val's old place, now soon to be their new home. "Most everything is done. Ya know, if ya knew the paint yer wanted fer the rest of the house, then it could be painted…maybe while were at the beach. But yer got that decorator comin' over sometime, huh?" Gourry asked.

"Well, we could leave her key somehow and she could still come tomorrow as planned and _she_ could tell them how much of what to get…" Val was thinking aloud.

"Sure, we could tell her to do the kitchen like one in Provence, the den like an English library, and the front room…in modern comfort with a giant screen TV, huge couches and plush chairs…built-in cooler…whatever!" Xelloss laughed.

"Fine with me," Val said. _What_-ever or _where_-ever 'Provence' was, he didn't care. Xelloss had good taste and if he thought it was a livable look, then fine. Let the dude go for it.

"Yeah, me, too… Shit, I have _got_ to stop saying that," Zel sputtered. "Yeah, go ahead, sounds fine, Xelloss. Tell her to guess and order whatever. If we don't like it, we can replace it later, right? I mean, none of us want to go out shopping for lamps and coffee tables, right? Right?!"

"No, as long as it works and doesn't look… ya know, no ruffles or flower stuff," Val said.

"Agreed," Xelloss smiled. "I think she has a good idea of our tastes from going over our room plans. I'll give her a call right now and…hope she's still at the shop."

He pulled out his cellphone and punched a few numbers. "Hello? This is Xelloss Metallium. Two friends and I were in earlier. I'm hoping that the salesperson that helped us is still in the shop? Good!" He stepped away from the others to sit on the floor while he described his idea over the cellphone.

After a few minutes, he placed his hand over the mouthpiece and shouted to Gourry, "She can come tomorrow morning and understands the situation. She's confident that she can meet our needs. Will there be workmen here that can let her in?"

"I'll make sure that there is. My dad might do it for me," Gourry assured him. He was in the kitchen where he and Zel were showing Val the new layout.

When Xelloss finished his call, he found the others looking from room to room at the nearly completed house.

"Don't look anythin' like what it was. Great job, Gourry," Val smiled. "Oh, here he comes…Hey, man, we were thinkin' of goin' out to play some pool. Wanna come?"

"The pool parlor out where you used to live with Sano? Yeah, I don't know…go on ahead. I have another thing to do first and if that doesn't pan out then I'll hop a bus out there. Thanks though!" Xelloss smiled and waved then hopped down the steps and down the sidewalk.

"You know where he's goin'?" Val asked Zel.

"No. There's his empty lot, my father's place, Gourry's, Lina's, the corner markets, the park…he likes the swings there…any number of places he might go. Just let him go, all right? He needs to do things on his own," Zel advised. I am NOT my brother's keeper!

~*~ 

Xelloss knocked on the door just as Luna was opening it on her way out.

"Who's this? Xelloss? Why, you're the last person I expected to see here tonight! Listen I'm going to work and Lina's in her room. She's not supposed to have any boy friends over when I'm not here, but…seeing as it is you…I trust you. Go on, but don't stay too late. And by that I mean, when I get home at 1:00 AM, you'd better be gone, get it? All right, you can go in. Be sure to knock first, ha, ha, ha!" Luna laughed boisterously and slammed the door on her way out.

Xelloss smiled. Imagine, one of the Knight's of Cephied trusted him, once the head of all the syndicate operations on the continent. Well, things get weird at times. He knocked on Lina's bedroom door.

"Huh?" she said as she opened her door. "_Xelloss_? What are _you _doing here?"

"My, my…" he smiled engagingly. "And I am glad to see you, too, Miss Lina! I was in the neighborhood and wanted to talk. Your sister let me in."

"You could have called first…" Lina grumbled as she straightened her disheveled hair a bit.

"Dead batteries," he said and held up his cellphone. "I'm on my way to get new ones. Care to join me? Nice warm evening, not completely dark for an hour…I'll buy you a snack?"

"You had me with 'warm evening'. I could use the exercise. Snack you say? Let's go!" Lina said as she slipped on a pair of sandals.

They talked about the beach and clothes shopping and other light topics. Just two friends, no angst, no stress. Xelloss bought his batteries and looked over the corner markets. "Look, that one's new! ICE CREAM! Want some?" he shouted joyfully.

Of course she did. Lina could eat anytime, anywhere, anything. Xelloss picked out hot fudge sundaes with everything on top for both of them. While they were waiting, he asked about Luna and Julian.

"Well, at least he doesn't make a pest of himself. He lives out at the settlement part time until he moves back home, but I think he's looking for a pace to rent in Seyruun. The tennis pro thing is a lark this summer. He's a business major just graduated from college and looking for work. He and my sis seem to get along pretty good, which is strange since I never remember her dating the 'pretty' guys before."

"Maybe she was too busy working and worrying about taking care of her house and little troublesome sister?" Xelloss smiled.

"You're probably not far off the mark. She knows I can take care of myself now and is doing stuff on her own. That plus…with that money thingy from Zel and you…my college is taken care of…and the house…it's nice," her voice trailed off.

The sundaes arrived and silence settled over the pair for awhile. When they were done, Xelloss suggested a walk to the park. There were other kids, a few couples, joggers running through the park.

"Nice night, huh?" Lina's eye twinkled.

"Yep."

"So…what were ya doin' in the old neighborhood?"

He explained about Val's place and fixing it up. "I wasn't exactly in the neighborhood…"

"I'd say not," she agreed, looking at him with amusement. "About a mile out of your way to my place, maybe two."

"I know…" he tilted his head to one side. "The swings are free."

"Last one there is a turgid fluke!" Lina shouted and ran to snatch up the nearest end one. She left him the one in the middle, his favorite.

"Turgid Fluke?! Where'd that come from?" Xelloss laughed as he kicked and started up his swing.

"Just made it up! Great band name, huh?" she laughed. "Swollen Fin, Big Limb, Turgid Fluke…ha, ha…"

After awhile, they started back to her house. They wandered by the ruins left of Xelloss' house and paused a moment. "Have you any idea what to do with it?" she asked.

"No. Sell it, maybe. I don't want to build another. Maybe someone else will want to live there. I don't. Never again. I wasn't born there, but I've buried a lot of memories there, some good, most bad. Time to move on, don't you think?" Xelloss sighed and walked past his haunted house.

"Yeah, I would do the same I think," she sighed. "Xelloss, what are you going to do?"

"Do? How do you mean? With my life? In a year? Tomorrow? Right now?" He smiled thinking about what he was tempted to do.

"All of the above," she chuckled.

"Okay… I'm going to… build a recording studio and make beautiful music, for starters… Um…I'm going to do something interesting with my dance studio. Yes, I own the one...I once attended. A musical dance version of something I like, I just haven't decided what that might be. I'm going to finish with high school for good and take my friends to Japan next summer… How am I doing so far?" he grinned.

"Great. You haven't mentioned romance yet, I'm impressed," she laughed quietly.

He made a face at her and continued, "Very well…I'm going to avoid getting a sunburn and still have a good time at the beach. And tonight…I'm going to stop at this house and say hello to my dad, then walk you the rest of the way home. Okay?"

"Sure…" she smiled. "Let's say hi to Rezo."

The kids stopped by, much to the old man's surprise. They thanked him profusely for the beach house accommodations, collected Beast, and his food. "Glad you stopped by for the keys…and that damned dog," Rezo said. "I wasn't sure I'd be in, in the morning when you stopped by. You sure there's room for him where you're staying?"

"Yes. Zelgadiss will sleep with him and I'll sleep outside, since it's warm enough. We'll call you when we get back, but our new place won't be quite ready so we'll still be at the Mayor's." Xelloss snatched up the keys from the table where he'd dropped them and smiled, "Bye, dad!" said.

"You call him 'dad', huh? Zel doesn't care?" Lina asked.

"Nope. He calls him 'father'. Val calls him Rezo, mostly, but jokes around and calls him dad too. Mrs. Gabriev's our shared 'mom' now, too. Neat huh? Gives us family to talk to and people who care about us and all. I mean, Val and I may be getting on in years, but we still need…people in our lives to call mom and dad, I think," Xelloss said.

"Yeah, I do know what ya mean. I have a mom, but not in my life, except for Gourry's mom too. She's really a great person, isn't she? I don't know how she does it with so many kids and troubles and she always listens and has good things to say about everyone. Luna's always been my 'parent' kinda father/mother, tough and nurturing. Hey, maybe ole Rezo wants to adopt a daughter too, eh?" Lina chuckled.

"Who knows? " Xelloss smiled. "In a few years we'll all be married and have new families…in-laws and children of our own. How odd _that_ will be!"

"No _end_ of odd," Lina growled. "Make that a _lot_ of years in the future. I got college and book signings and plenty to do without a bunch of pesky kids under my feet."

Xelloss chuckled a bit as they stepped up to her front door. "_Yours _would be little pests too! Hot-tempered, red-headed, tough, little buggers…_all_ of them!" he teased.

"You weren't hoping to come in, were you?" she gave him a smirky grin. "Or did you think insulting my theoretical, future progeny would buy you points?"

"My sparkling wit and personality aren't enough?" he smiled goofily. 

She stared at him thoughtfully. 

"Um, I like movies. Do you have some we could watch?" he smiled, but there was a note of apprehension in his question. He was hoping that she'd ask him in, but with Lina you never did know what she would do next. She might just slam the door in his face.

"Yeah, well…don't you and Zel have anything to do?" Lina mumbled. 

"The 'boys' are schmoozing at the pool parlor tonight. Last time I went, I couldn't get the smell of cigarette smoke out of my hair for a week!" He rolled his eyes and sent Lina into a coughing fit.

"Ha, ha… okay, come in… One movie, just one!" Lina said.

"Whatcha got!" he asked as he danced over to the couch and plopped down in the middle. "Ooooo Sound of Music!"

"What? We don't have all night to watch that!" Lina snorted.

"I have until 1:00 AM or Luna turns me into a eunuch or something," he smiled.

"Heh, heh, whatever! Don't think she won't, either! Here, how about The Matrix instead?" Lina shoved a tape into the player and pressed the 'on' button.

"Never seen it," Xelloss smiled. "But I heard its good."

"You're probably the only guy in Seyruun who hasn't. Its sci-fi and action combined. Want some popcorn?" she asked.

Before he could answer, she was in the kitchen stuffing a bag into the microwave and raiding the refrigerator for pop. She returned to the couch in a couple minutes juggling a huge plastic bowl and a soda can. "I only found the one can so we gotta share, okay?"

"I don't mind," he smiled. Hmmm, no glasses, eh? That's almost like sharing a kiss.

"You wouldn't, like think of moving over a bit, huh?" she asked. He was still centered on the couch.

Xelloss reached up, took the bowl with one hand, and patted the cushion beside him with his other. "Plenty of room. Sit down and…nice clothes, huh? Is that guy considered good-looking? Do you think I'd look better with my hair cut like his?"

Lina sighed and squeezed in between Xelloss and … "Oh, yuck! Beast! Why do you have to be on the couch too? Oh! You eat popcorn? Why don't you go sit on Xelloss? Isn't this _your _mutt?"

"No. I'm not a dog person, I guess. He loves Zelgadiss, though, and you, too." Xelloss gave her a little wink then reached for the bowl of popcorn that Lina was guarding. "Lina, I'll hold the popcorn, then he can't eat it all, okay?"

Surprisingly, she parted with the popcorn after stuffing her mouth full. Xelloss tried again to reveal her tastes in guys. "So, what do you think? About that guy?"

"Keanu Reeves? Yeah, he's pretty cute, kinda like you. Hair? That's your call. Soda?" she held the can out under his nose.

"Thanks," he said then took a sip. "So…I'm _cute_?" He frowned a bit and wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Puppies are cute…little, tiny flowery stickers are cute…some girls… Aren't I a lot more…"

"What? Masculine? Are you searching for compliments or somethin'? Okay…let's see…you looked pretty tough when you were threatening to kill Filia…and when you were about to break DarkStar's neck," she said. 

There, that was enough of that, she thought. Time to move his attention back on the movie. "Look at him…see, he can fight like you, but with special effects to look cool."

Xelloss was soon absorbed by the story. They watched it through to the end without much more comment. Xelloss checked his watch, still some more time before he'd have to leave.

"Wanna listen to some music?" Lina asked. "I got some more downloads. Maybe you'd like to hear the ones I think the band should do?"

"Music? Yeah!" He smiled and carried the empty snack containers into the kitchen. He washed and dried the bowl, found a cupboard into which to store it, and tossed out the can. When he left the kitchen, Lina was plugging her CD player into an open socket in the front room. Okay, so they weren't going to her room, but then it seemed all the girls had drawn the line at that. Of course, no one had given a second thought to plowing through his loft, when he had a loft. He sighed, saddened by the memory.

"Xelloss? Somethin' wrong? Ya look…a bit down all of a sudden," Lina observed as she selected a tune to play.

Shaking his head a little, he said, "I just thought about listening to my music in the loft and remembered…" Tears trickled down his cheek. He wiped them off quickly with a sleeve. "I'm okay, Lina. Go on, tell me about this song."

Lina played the song and watched her friend. "Xelloss, you've been holding in a lot of stuff for a long time, haven't ya?"

He nodded, "Oh, please, Lina… Don't ask me to talk about all that now." He did not want to break down and start crying around Lina. He wanted her to think better of him than that. He wouldn't be a weak wimp around her, no way!

"I liked that place, too, ya know? Didn't we all have the best of times there? Practicing… remember the picnic? Zelgadiss was trying to hide your mother from us!" Lina chuckled. "You were busy picking up after all of us and lighting candles and…it was cool, huh?"

"Yeah," he smiled through a few tears threatening to fall. "Remember the night the power went out and everyone camped out on the beanbag chairs?" He giggled a bit.

"Uh, huh! You told the scariest story! Gods, that squeal of Sylph's!" Lina sucked in her breath. She hadn't meant to mention that person. She decided not to apologize and carried on gamely. "And the look on Zel's face when he woke up in the morning with Amelia asleep only a few inches away! That was priceless!"

Xelloss half-smiled. "Things will never be like that again, will they?"

Lina looked him in the eye and shook her head. "Things never are the same. Change is good, Xelloss. We can remember the good stuff, but not relive it. That's all done and over. We gotta move on and make new things to remember, right? I was writing about that stuff, ya know, for my book about us. We weren't happy all the time back then, either!"

He nodded, "My first friends, my first overnight, my first party, my first school dance, my first kiss with a beautiful girl…" he smiled at Lina and looked away. "There were some terrific moments." He paused and looked down at his hands, "Lina? Where are we going to practice, do you think?"

"I don't know… We'll have to talk about it at the beach house tomorrow," Lina decided. It was too difficult for her to solve alone.

"Oh, one to dance to!" Xelloss said jovially. "Would you care for the next dance, my lady?" he jested.

"Oh, sure, what the heck!" she laughed and let him hold her gently and lead her around the front room in time with the song. Something was in her eye, however, making her blink and start to squint.

"Don't move," he said as he moved closer. "I see it. I'll get it. Just close your eyes."

She felt a warm, moist caress briefly, then opened her eyes to see his retreating face centimeters from hers.

"Xelloss…" she growled in warning. "What was _your_ tongue doing in the vicinity of _my_ face?"

"It was an eyelash!" he gasped defensively. "It was partly in and partly out of your eye, see?" He held up his index finger with a pale brown lash glued to it as proof.

"My hands were all salty from the popcorn, see? I didn't want to get salt in your eye! _Honest!" _Well, he didn't _think_ he'd washed it all off…

Lina drew a deep breath, "You look too pathetic right now to be trying to make some move on me. So _help _me, Xelloss! I don't know _why_ I let you off so easily sometimes!"

"Because…I'm so charming? Sexy? You like me?" Xelloss fluttered his eyelashes and smiled fetchingly.

"Bah! More like…pushy and…exciting," she said reluctantly adding fuel to the fire. "I never was travelling so far…or in so much danger, before I got you as a friend."

Xelloss smiled warmly, "Hmmm, I like that…"

"And," she added with a warning glare, "…frivolous."

Xelloss frowned slightly.

"I mean, if it were Gourry, I'd have do something more assertive to put him off. Coming from _him_ I'd be more like making a commitment or somethin' if I let him get away with half the stuff I let you slip past me. But with you…"

Xelloss straightened, "It's a brief indulgence. I'm just for fun…"

"Sorta. Practice. It's kinda exciting and then we just leave it at that. AND… since _you_ know I'm not interested in having a boyfriend, then _I'm_ safe for you, too."

"Oh," Xelloss said. He was disappointed and trying to hide it from Lina. He had this strong attachment to her and he just couldn't figure out how to get her to feel the same way about him. Maybe, just maybe, it wasn't ever going to happen, he realized.

"Come on, what do you think? We kiss and get married tomorrow? I've got plans, college, stuff. You know that! I keep tellin' ya. I don't want a boyfriend to eat up my spare time and I don't wanna mess with the band…or my other friends," Lina shouted.

"Oh, like…Gourry and Zelgadiss?"

"Yeah, like with them."

Xelloss looked wistful then smiled slightly, "Would you like another dance, Lina?"

"Sure, why not?" she said with a toss of her hair.

They swirled around the room a few more times, then Xelloss checked his watch. Oopsie! Breathlessly he said in a rush of words, "Time to go. Thank you, for the company, Lina. Don't forget to pack tonight, if you haven't done so already. We'll be getting an early start."

Lina groaned.

"Apparently, Filia isn't coming along, and we have to drop her at the settlement on our way. Oh, she wants to come with us, but her folks would really like to spend some time with her and all. Some other stuff Val can explain having to do with clan celebrations and her role in them," Xelloss explained rapidly. His time was running out.

While he moved to the door, they could hear Luna's car pull up into the driveway. "Bye, now!" he called and started down the walk.

"That's cutting it pret-ty close, Mr. Metallium," Luna observed.

"Really? Time certainly does fly," he smiled sweetly.

"So, where are you going now?"

"Um…Wow, for a minute there I forgot where I was staying!" he giggled. "Um, the coach house at Amelia's."

"You're walking? You do know that the buses stop running at midnight in summer, right?" she asked.

"Oh… I didn't know that. Well, I'd best be going then," he tipped an invisible hat to her and swirled around to head down the street.

Luna sighed, "Ah, come on. Get in the car, ya big goofus, and I'll drop ya off. Yeah, that stinkin' dog of yours, too. No wonder the syndicate fell, with you at the helm!"

That sent Xelloss cackling and sobbing in a state of near hysteria. She was soooo funny.

~*~

"Where have you been?" Zel gasped as Xelloss stumbled over the scattered clothes and packages on the floor of their room. "I was about to start calling the police!"

"Liiii-na's," Xelloss sang.

Woof! 

"Beast!" Zel sounded practically joyful. "You picked up Beast!"

"Yeah, pretty nice guy, aren't I?" Xelloss smiled. "I took a walk, stopped in a the corner market. Did you know a new ice cream parlor opened there? Yeah, I bought a treat for Lina. Then we stopped at _dad's_ to thank him for the beach place and got the keys and the dog. Then… we watched the Matrix and listened to some music she'd downloaded. A couple for the band…if there ever is a band again."

Zel looked up from Beast when he heard that. "What do you mean **_if_**? Doesn't Lina want to keep the band together?" Zel asked with a touch of desperation in his voice.

"It's not that. We have no place to practice, Zelgadiss! Think of it! We may have a place to live soon, but no studio!" Xelloss cried out. He felt guilty about his role in all that too. It was his fault that their place was destroyed. "I'll think of something, though. If the band falls apart, it will be my fault. I can't let that happen!"

Zel sighed. "We're a team, Xelloss. The band fails because everyone in it decides to break up, not because Xelloss can't think up a solution to a practice room problem at… nearly 1:30 AM. Now go to bed and go to sleep, so I can. And forget about it!"

Beast whined and snuggled onto Zel's narrow bed. They wrestled for space a few minutes, then, having transferred the bulk of the dog to the foot of his bed and retreating into near-fetal position, Zel closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

"I can hear you still thinking about it!" he said to Xelloss.

Xelloss chuckled, "Even _elves_ can't hear through my demon-shielded skull, Zel-gaaaaaaa-diss."

"This one can, and did. Now, think about the beach and the cry of sea gulls, or something. Good night."

"I think I'll try sleeping outside on the grass," Xelloss said. He grappled with a blanket and pillow and noisily blazed a trail from his bed, though the piles of new clothes, and out the door.

Woooowowoooooo!

"Dammit Xelloss! Now Beast wants out too!"

oof!

Xelloss was knocked aside by the wolf dog in its haste to reach the sweet-smelling night air first. "Hey! Who said you could join me? I'm trying to get away from your doggy-ness! Zel-gaaaaa-diss!" Xelloss whined. 

In the end, all three fell asleep outside the building on the grass, side-by-side.

"Oh how cute!" Amelia squealed when she found them the next morning. She ran back into the house, grabbed her camera, and ran back to snap several pictures. Quickly, she hid the camera behind her back at they awoke to find her standing above them.

"Gaaaah!" Zel gasped. "Oh…" he took a deep breath to control his language. "What time is it, Amelia?"

"We leave in an hour. Breakfast is waiting. Have you packed yet?" she asked.

Xelloss opened his eyes a crack. There was much too much talking going on and one voice was far too cheerful. "Um… what are you doing in our room?"

She giggled. "You've forgotten where you are, Mr. Xelloss? You're outside! Time for breakfast! You know, it's the most important meal of the day." She hopped over the dog and Xelloss and peeked into the coach house. What a mess!

"You haven't even begun to pack! Wait…you haven't anything to pack into! I'll go and bring back a couple duffel bags while you two get dressed. Better hurry!" she laughed at Zel's wide-eyed expression, and skipped off.

"Come on, sport. She'll be baaa-aaack!" Zel joked. He picked up his things and stepped into the coach house to dress and sort his clothes.

"I need a shower," Xelloss moaned and slammed the door behind him. "Don't let her in!"

One hour later, Gourry drove up with Lina, Filia, and Val in Val's Suburban. They loaded up Amelia, Beast Xelloss, Zel, and their bags and took off to the settlement.

"I wish I could go too," Filia said. "But I haven't been home and I have duties."

"I thought you were leaving the clan," Lina said.

"No, not the clan exactly, but my priestess duties. I'm reconsidering all that, though. Milgasia has made me promise to speak to him about it. That's another reason I have to go home, to meet with him. They really want Val there too, but…" Filia gazed into his unusual golden-hued eyes, leaving him nearly unable to concentrate on whatever was being said. "You'll come visit after the beach trip, right?"

"Ah…whaaa?" he managed to say.

"Good thing he's not driving," Xelloss said with a wink to Filia.

She stuck out her tongue and Xelloss tried to pinch it, which led to some shrieking, punching, and mayhem.

"Children, behave or you'll have to be separated," Zel shouted from the middle seat.

"Or I'll separate your head from your body at the neck, he means!" Lina corrected from beside him.

"Mr. Gourry, Would you like me to put on some music?" Amelia asked. He nodded gratefully, and she chose a CD from the pile and shoved it in. It was her first time to sit in the front passenger seat and she was enjoying the view and the control over the music selection.

"Eeeeewwwwwww! What's that noise?" Xelloss wailed from the far back where he was shoved up against the side of the car, with Filia beside him and Val on her other side. Some modern boy-band Amelia liked harmonized through the car's speakers.

"Hey, short-stuff! Not in my ear, okay!" Filia snorted at Xelloss, giving him a little smack on the arm as well.

"Short Stuff? I'm not short!" he snorted back, straightening up as he spoke.

"Well, you're inches shorter than me and a foot shorter than Val!"

"Only with those boots on!" Xelloss insisted. "You're just an Amazon!"

"Not really. Lina and Amelia are stumps. I'm regal, Val is lanky and Gourry is…" Filia was saying. Val was studying her closely.

"Gourry is… what?" he asked.

"A magnificent hunk of manhood," she grinned.

Both Val and Xelloss choked and sputtered. 

Val eventually blurted out, "Ya gotta be kiddin'."

Xelloss chortled, "Oh, Gooooour-reee! Filly here thinks you are—and I quote—'one magnificent _hunk _of manhood.' What do think of that?!"

Gourry simply smiled and shook his head.

"He thinks she's lovely for recognizing at last what everyone has been saying about him for years," Zel shouted back.

Lina punched him and gave him a perplexed look, "Gods, Zel, what's gotten into you?"

"A boy and his dog. It just doesn't get any better," he smirked over at her rubbing his arm. "Does it boy?" he murmured to the dog.

"Yeah, well…" Lina looked down at her feet, which were resting on the dog's back. "He does make a pretty good footrest."

"Are we there yet?" yelled Xelloss.

No, they weren't, but soon, too soon for some, they were driving up to Filia's house, past the guard gate, past the orchards heavy with fruit, past the summer gardens and flower gardens. By mutual agreement— stay put, or meet the wrath of Lina— Val, and _only_ Val was allowed to walk Filia up to her door and see her off. Everyone else had to remain in the car. 

A few minutes later, they were tooling down the road, with Xelloss in the driver's seat. Yes, the beach vacation was a good idea. They were all going to have a good time. A good relaxing time.

Val noticed that Gourry was sitting in back. Good, he'd leave him in peace to stare gloomily out the window for awhile.

"So, why were you and Mr. Zelgadiss sleeping outside last night?" Amelia asked Xelloss.

"You aren't supposed to talk to him when he's driving!" Zel said with his trademark smirk.

Xelloss matched him smirk for smirk in the rear-view mirror.

"Funny, Zelly. I don't like the smell of dog, or Beast either," he smiled at Amelia.

Zel opened his mouth to say something, but Lina mashed Amelia's purse in his face to shut him up.

"…And, I was worrying about the band. Without my place, we haven't anywhere to practice!" he said to Amelia in particular. She seemed sensitive to his problems, whereas no one else was.

"Oh, Mr. Xelloss. Miss Lina and I already solved that problem," Amelia announced proudly.

"YOU DID?!" both Zel and Xel said in unison.

"Of course, you idiots!" Lina growled. "You don't think I'd let that get past me, do ya? After Xelloss mentioned it last night…" 

Gourry and Val passed looks of incredulity back and forth, "Lina and Xelloss…last night…while we were playing pool?"

"I called Amelia…"

"That was, like, after 1:00 in the morning!" Xelloss gasped.

Again, Gourry and Val passed looks of incredulity back and forth, "Xelloss and Lina at 1:00 AM!"

"Yes, my cellphone went off and I nearly jumped out of my skin!" Amelia cried out. "I thought we were about to be attacked or the Martians were coming or something!"

"…And asked her if she could think of a place we could use for practices. And she did!" Lina stopped. She scanned Zel's curious face, then grinned.

"And…it's a secret!" she laughed and laughed.

Xelloss made a face in the mirror at her.

Amelia poked his shoulder playfully, "Not really! The coach house! It's perfect. Big, we can add soundproofing if we want, but there are no neighbors to bother so it's not necessary. The place where we did the video taping with Kiki is right next door, if we need to do that, too! We can paint it and fix it up any way we want to!"

Val, Gourry, and Zel simultaneously said, "Do whatever you want!"

"We've been making too many in-ter-ior de-_cor_ decisions as of late," Val growled.

"It works for me!" Xelloss smiled. "It's about equal-distant to all our homes, save for the clan-girl."

"And we can have the van service home on practice days!" Amelia giggled. "Daddy was so pleased when I asked him this morning. He feels better knowing I'm not spending most of my time in some boy's _bedroom_!" 

They all laughed at that one. Yes, the more they talked about it, the better it sounded. So, they agreed to adopt the Mayor's coach house as their band's new practice location, just as the beach dune's appeared on the horizon.

Life _was_ wonderful, wasn't it?!

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Fourteen. ~*~ 


	15. Chapter 15

****

The Slayers: **Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel**

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Fifteen 

(Note: Seishirou, Subaru, and Hokuto are all characters created by the writing team at CLAMP for the Tokyo Babylon and the X manga series.)

Xelloss knew where he was heading. He'd been given explicit directions by Rezo the night before; and so, found the pair of houses nestled between the wind-blown pine trees with no trouble. He pulled up, set the brake and jumped out of the car almost as quickly as Zel could have done it. With the keys in his hands, Xelloss opened first the smaller house, for the girls, and the larger one, for the boys. One cursory look around and he was out running on the beach, Beast howling in the distance.

"Now where's he off to?" Amelia wondered aloud.

"Does it matter?" Zel said curtly. He lugged both his and Xelloss' duffel bags into the house and tossed them irreverently into a corner. "As long as he's out of sight and my hearing range."

Gourry helped Lina with her bag, then returned to the car to tote crates of food that they had purchased on the way. Val was stashing drinks away into the refrigerator, when Lina nosed her way into the house.

"Not bad…" she smiled. "Ours is cozy but yours has a fire place! Anyone for Frisbee?"

Yeah, sure. It was summer. They were at the beach, a practically empty beach. The late afternoon wind was hours away from blowing in a damp fog, so… yeah!

Gourry pulled out football from his duffel and trotted out the door last. It was a pretty wild game with both a flying Frisbee and a football, but they laughed a lot and forgot about all their problems. 

"We're going in for drinks!" Lina called out. "Be right back!" She nodded to Amelia and together they skipped back to their house.

"Heads up, Xelloss!" Val cried out as he launched the football like a missile directly at him.

Surprising everyone, Xelloss not only caught the ball on the run, but he returned it dead-on to Gourry.

"You won't be-leeeeve what I found!" Xelloss cried out.

"Must be good ta get you so worked up," Gourry said. "Nice catch, by the way. You ever play football?" He couldn't figure out when Xelloss might have done such a thing, but Gourry couldn't figure Xelloss out at all anyway.

"A little, with other kids in grade school, then a bit at the nut house. But ya gotta hear what I found!" Xelloss said breathlessly. He waited for Val and Zel to get closer, and noted that Lina and Amelia were on their way back to their house.

"Way down there, the next cove…" Xelloss smiled, then lowered his voice. "It's a _nude_ beach…."

"Oh, yeah?" Val grinned and turned to look in the direction Xelloss was pointing.

"I don't think that's legal around here," Zel made his pronouncement and folded his arms across his chest. "What makes you think that it is?"

Xelloss smiled, his eyes on Lina as she entered the house, "That's a secret!"

"Humph!" sniffed Zel. "Just as I thought. Only your overactive imagination at work."

Xelloss' smile widened into a grin, "If you say so…I dare you to come look then!"

Zel was about to shove Xelloss out of his way and go back to the house as well, but with Gourry and Val standing there, he had his male 'honor' to uphold. "All…" he sighed, "…right."

Giggling in triumph, Xelloss turned to lead the way to the far end of the beach.

"Where are you going, Mr. Zelgadiss?" Amelia asked innocently and taking a sip from her water bottle. She'd run over to find out what was going on while Lina used the bathroom.

Zel answered loudly enough for everyone to overhear, "On a wild _Xelloss _chase. He thinks he has something to show us around the dune cliffs up ahead, and I called his bluff. You and Lina can wait here, if you want. It's sure to be disappointing." 

Val and Gourry had run up ahead and were now crouching in the tall dune grass and staring down into the cove below. Xelloss dove for a nearby tuft and belly-crawled to the edge.

They saw fat ones, skinny ones, boy ones and girls ones, and everything inclusive and exclusive. All naked as the day they were born.

"Wanna join them?" Val asked Gourry.

Gourry's clear blue eyes widen measurably, "Ah…I don't think I can do that…."

Val smirked, "Untie yer hair and you could hide everything. I will if you will?" he coaxed his friend daringly.

"You going down there?" Xelloss gasped. "Shit…I would if…."

"I don't think yer ready to flaunt your scars," Val said, showing a great deal of sensitivity toward his friend. "Mine aren't nearly so…bad."

Zelgadiss had reached the top of the hill and was crawling up toward Gourry. He took one look, gasped, blushed, and then looked at Val, who was ripping off his shirt.

"You aren't…" Zel gasped.

"Sure…I wanna feel the breeze," he grinned.

Zel turned to Gourry, "You can't let him go alone!"

Gourry shook his head, "I don't think I can do that, Zel."

"Ah come on, we'll just run out into the water and back," Val urged.

"If you don't, I will!" Xelloss said excitedly. He was ready to try anything!

Zel looked at Xelloss, "Keep your pants on, Gourry'll go or Val will stay."

"Too laaaaate!" Val laughed, tossed his pants in one direction and ran in the other.

Gourry stared at Zel. Zel stared at him then at Xelloss. Xelloss ripped off his shirt, "I don't care! Let them stare!"

"Oh, joy…" Zel groaned. A sprinkling of sand told him that Xelloss was on his way down into the 'forbidden cove' following Val.

Gourry gave Zel one last look of desperation then said, "Don't let Lina see this…" then ripped off his clothes and scooted over the edge and down the other side.

Zel had a split second to decide which would be worse, facing Lina and Amelia and trying to head them off, facing their wrath…or…shock them (and himself). He closed his eyes and pictured Lina's face- wrathful, then appalled. He bit back a curse and tore off his shirt and shorts. One quick check… yes, Xelloss was not too far ahead… then he popped over the ridge and ran like the wind. He was the first to reach the water, and was immersed in icy salt water up to his waist before Val recognized the blur running past him.

"Now, where did they go? I could have sworn I saw the guys up here a minute ago," Lina grumbled as she watched Amelia scamper up the sand dune.

The younger girl spied the piles of clothes first, then curiosity getting the better of her, climbed to the top of the dune and gazed into the cove below. "Oh!" she managed to say as her voice caught in her throat.

"Ya see em?" Lina huffed and puffed to the top.

"They're out in the water, but Miss Lina!" Amelia gulped some air and then continued. "No one is wearing clothes on that beach and here are their clothes!"

"Oh, really?" Lina said in an odd languid tone. Her eyes skimmed over the piles of clothes flung haphazardly in the tall grass.

"Miss Lina! We are NOT going to take their clothes! No! That would be sooooo unjust!" Amelia stomped her foot defiantly.

"Ahhhh, well…" Lina smiled. "Okay…then, we'll just take their…shirts and…underwear. Yes! That way they'll know just how close to being really embarrassed they were." 

The two girls bickered back and forth, but in the end, Lina won out. Amelia would not touch the underwear, but Lina had no qualms about it and rolled them up in the shirts, then tucked the bundles under her arms.

With her toe, Lina wrote: "Lina sees all!' Amelia gathered the boy's shorts and pants, piled them beneath the words, then encircled it all with a big heart drawn in the sand with a stick.

"Yeah, that'll do it!" Lina grinned and passed one of the bundles to Amelia. "You can carry Zel's. He'll suffer more knowing that you did! Ha, Ha!"

"Miss Lina!" Amelia cried out, but then giggled. "They will kill us!"

"Not if we get home first! But if we stand here and wait for them to come looking for their clothes…"

Amelia giggled some more, "We'd better run, then!"

"So do you think they _saw_ us?" Xelloss shouted when they found the mark of Lina and their reduced clothing pile.

Zelgadiss yanked on his shorts, hot as his sun-kissed back, and shot off angrily, "What do YOU think! It's your fault, you know, getting us into this mess!"

Val was swearing at the sand scratching uncomfortably.

Gourry mumbled something about being lucky that they left them their shorts to wear back.

"Yeah, but…it makes a great story to tell, right?" Xelloss said as he attempted to put a good spin on the entire escapade. "You liked it, didn't you Val?"

"Yeah, but next time I want a towel ta dry off with…" Val answered.

"See, Zel-gaaaa-diss? He said '_next time'_! Hey, did ya notice that no one was really staring at us either? I mean, they looked but didn't faint or anything," Xelloss continued. 

Zel just tried to ignore him and forget that he ever did such an insane thing. Whatever made him do that? A year ago he never would have even looked into the cove! Actually, he felt pretty brave…and cool…

"What are you smiling about?" Xelloss asked, scampering alongside his friend. "It was fun, wasn't it? You aren't mad at me?"

Zel shook his head, "No…I'm not mad at you…or myself." His eyes met his friend's briefly, "Maybe I'll try that again about sunrise…hours before Lina gets up."

Xelloss' jaw dropped, and then he started to laugh, "Yes! Yes!!"

"Count me out," Val said. He punched Xelloss on the shoulder, then added, "I'm not a morning person, but…I'd consider sunset."

Xelloss chortled with glee.

Gourry met Val's smile with one of his own, "Dark is good…"

"Woooooweeeee!" Xelloss whooped it up and danced across the sand to their house. He was all charged up with having instigated something truly outrageous with his friends, guys ones, and pulled it off. Gods! He was one of the guys! Not the crazy nerd guy, just one of the guys. He felt great. Accepted and great.

Val was great at handling Lina, when it came to skirting the edge of trouble. As it turned out, she was just a little miffed that she didn't have the courage to bare it all and join them. So, she forgave them for their bit of mischief and moved on.

Ring, ring…

"Whose cellphone?" Val asked, looking vainly about the floor of the beach house for his.

"Mine," answered Zelgadiss. "Hello? Yes, it is, and you are?" Zel paused and shrugged his shoulders at Lina's questioning glance. "My advisor? Oh, for the university. You're with the Veterinary College there? I'm not in that program. Oh. I see… Well, I've been…out of town all summer. In fact, I'm at the beach now, actually so I guess I'll have to miss… Oh, I see. Um…you wouldn't be the faculty advisor for a Xelloss Metallium also, would you? Of course, you are… Well, he's here too, at the beach house where I'm staying. WHAT?! NO! What gave you _that_ idea?! He's m-my friend and were related, kinda. Yeah, well…no…it's all right," he sighed. "So…here? You want to come here? Well, I guess…tomorrow? Oh, all right. I'll pass you over to Xelloss, now. He can give you the directions. Yeah, um…good bye then."

"Here, your turn," Zel said and tossed the phone to his friend standing nearby.

Xelloss, and everyone else, had heard enough from Zel's end of the conversation to understand the portent of things to come.

"Hi! This is Xelloss. Yeah, that would be great! Yeah, we're here with our band. Uh, huh. We're good. They are in bands, too? No, I guess that would be okay to bring them along…" Xelloss held up two fingers to Zel, indicating how many more were coming. 

"And their names? Ones' a girl, huh? Sixteen? Oh…well, that's great. See ya then… Oh, yeah the directions…" Xelloss described the roads and the handed Zel his phone back.

"Well, that's interesting. He's bringing two kids, I guess they all live together or something. They're in bands too so…one's a boy and the other a girl, both sixteen," Xelloss said. "He must have to make points by meeting us face-to-face or something. So, are we going to cook hotdogs and marshmallows outside?" 

Oh, yeah…for dinner, but not for lunch!

"Why did they have to be so flexible?" Zel snorted. "You'd think 'I'm away at the beach' would be enough to discourage any mere college professor, but now we've got to have lunch with him and some weird kids!"

"The more the merrier!" Xelloss smiled.

"Not when you're cooking for them!" Zel cried. Thanks, guys, for the early shopping trip in town," he sighed.

"Well, I was hungry anyway," Lina shrugged. "You never pack enough food, Zel."

"I pack enough food for normal people. It just isn't sufficient for you scary people's needs."

"Say that again!" Lina dared him, eyes flaming. 

"What did you say you advisor's name is?" Amelia asked Xelloss, pleasantly.

"Oh…Seishirou something. Long Japanese name I didn't catch."

"Sakurazuka. Seishirou Sakurazuka," Zel informed her and gave Xelloss a 'I caught it!' smirk in passing.

"Him?" Amelia cried. "He's a priest for the White Shrine! Don't you know him, Xelloss?"

"No. I didn't associate with adult priests very much, mostly the novices."

"He means he only paid attention to the fe-male ones," Val snickered.

"He-ey!" Xelloss whined.

"Okay, all of you, out of the kitchen unless you want to help make deviled eggs!" Zel threatened.

At that tiny mention of work, the kitchen was empty.

"Good," he smiled.

Soon, Zel had his minions lugging the picnic that he'd slavishly created over the sand to a picturesque, and windless, location. The sky was clear and bright, the ocean sparkling; it was an absolutely gorgeous day. Perfect for a picnic and maybe a swim afterwards.

"Hey, I hauled my share so I can eat it!" Lina insisted.

Zel hovered like a nervous hen over her eggs, "NO, Lina. We're waiting and eating together."

Just then, a big white utility van, looking more like an oversized milk carton on wheels than anything else, pulled up to the house. Amelia had volunteered to stay and wait, then bring them all to the picnic spot. At the sound of the van, she opened the door and cried out, "Hello!"

In seconds, a group of four—the guests plus Amelia-the-guide—appeared on the crest of the dune that sheltered the Slayers' special picnic spot. There was a very tall figure in a green suit, presumably the advisor, and three shorter ones—two completely identical heights dressed in red and Amelia's slightly shorter little self.

"Hello, everybody!" the man called, and waved enthusiastically. He was handsome and friendly, dressed for the office with glasses that made him look sensitive and harmless, though that could have been his childishly excited expression. Amelia and one of the younger people were already getting on well, talking and laughing like old friends. The other twin was less out-going, apparently, for that one stayed behind, close to Seishirou, and looked at the others with shy curiosity.

"Waitaminute," Val whispered, "I thought there was a boy and a girl--looks like identical twin sisters to me."

"That means there's one for each of us!" Xelloss nudged Zel, who glared at him full-bore.

"The quiet one's a boy," Lina said, "so one of you is out of luck, I'd say. Hey! I'm Lina, nice to meet'cha!" she greeted the guests, shaking Seishirou and the out-going twin's hands and tipping her straw hat at the quiet one, who had a strikingly similar one in black on, himself. He smiled a little and returned the gesture with a gloved hand. "I'm the band leader, so I've gotta look out for my drummer and lead guitarist, you know?" Lina said with her twisted smile.

"Ahahahaha!" Seishirou laughed amicably. "I understand. I assure you, they'll be in good hands at the University. Isn't that right, Subaru?"

The quiet twin blushed deeply. "Y-yes, Mr. Seishirou."

Seishirou laughed again, and the other twin joined in with an ear-splitting "Ohohohoho!"

Amelia started at the familiar-sounding laugh, but relaxed. This girl certainly wasn't much like her big sister… "Miss Hokuto," she cringed.

"Oh, we're so rude!" the girl said. "Hi-ii! I'm Hokuto Sumeragi, and this is Sei-chan—that is, Seishirou Sakurazuka, and this is my brother Subaru-he's younger."

"Only by a few minutes," Subaru insisted, weakly. 

"We're twins—can you tell?" she laughed, grabbing her brother by the shoulders and smiling, her beaming face right next to his own befuddled one.

"Friggin' identical!" Val choked.

"Worse than all my siblings," Gourry muttered.

"But I'm so cute, no one mistakes me for a boy!" Hokuto asserted, leaving the flagrantly obvious conclusion to be made that the twin whose gender was usually mistaken was her brother.

"I'm sure they don't!" Xelloss put in. "I'm Xelloss Metallium, the drummer."

"Ooh!" Hokuyo squealed. "I've seen you guys before! You're really good! Not as good as the Seven Seals or the Seven Harbingers, of course," she sniffed, "but still, I thought YOU were the coolest!" she told Xelloss. 

That was enough for Xelloss to base a friendship on. He smiled. "So, what high school are you going to?"

"We, ah…ran into a little trouble in Atlas City," Hokuto answered.

"Yes," Seishirou interrupted. "We'll all be moving to Seyruun. I…am a long-term part of the family. So, both Subaru and Hokuto will be transferring into Seyruun High. Which is partly why I've brought them along today to meet all of you."

Amelia beamed. Now it was her turn. Time to indoctrinate the newbies, Amelia-style! "That's wonderful! I just know you're gonna love it at our high school. I'm Amelia, out-going student council member for the freshmen and sure to be one for the sophomores. My father is the Mayor of Seyruun and it's the best place to live!"

"Yeah, well, that's Amelia…one of our band's backup singers," Lina said waving Amelia off with one hand and gesturing for Gourry and Val to come closer. "As I was saying, I'm Lina Inverse, leader of the Slayers and main song-writer and singer. The high school sucks like everything else adults have a hand in, but there's lots of…well, a few okay kids there."

Lina gave them a little wink then grabbed Gourry by a hunk of his hair, "Like this one. This is Gourry, our bass player…"

Hokuto's eyes widened as he moved into sight, shading her entire body from the sun as he drew closer, the vision of a young Viking god smiling and trying to disentangle his hair from Lina's fist. 

"Um…Hi..." he said.

"Hi yerself. Wow, you sure are tall, right Suuuuu-baruuuuu?" she cried out in a whiny voice.

Subaru winced. Like Xelloss and Zel, he was only average in height and quite slim. Zel sighed. He took pity on the guy. "Ah, want to come with me and get something to drink?"

"Yes," Subaru sighed with relief. "I'd like that lot…if it isn't any trouble."

"Just a minute!" Lina shouted.

Both boys froze. With an over-bearing sister like his, Subaru had the all the right responses built right in from the start, Zel noted.

"I just want ya to meet Val, our keyboardist," Lina finished. "Oh, while you're going that way, dig me out something, will ya?"

"All right," Zel and Subaru said in unison. It was said in the same tone of voice and was so perfectly timed, that everyone laughed.

The two boys looked at one another and blushed. Oh, joy…

When everyone was finding a place to settle down to eat the picnic, Xelloss gave Zel a nudge and whispered, "I'll take care of this one, Zelgadiss," he smiled and rested a hand on the new girl's shoulder. "And you can keep _him_ occupied."

Zel frowned and nearly said something back, but thought better of it. If Xelloss wanted to listen to that girl whine and carry on about their great bands, then let him. At least Subaru was quiet. Polite and quiet. Amelia nestled over on the new boy's over side and engaged him in conversation, relieving Zelgadiss of the responsibility.

"What would you like? We've got all sorts of stuff…" Zel poked at the drinks immersed in ice. 

"Um…I don't really have a preference--is that…?" the boy's emerald green eyes suddenly caught sight of something.

"It's a Frappechino, my favorite. Want one?"

"Sure!" Subaru received the coveted coffee drink, and Zel chose a Dr Pepper so that he wouldn't embarrass himself by having the same drink as this kid. He picked out an orange soda for Lina and passed Amelia a cream soda before she could ask.

"Catch." Zel threw the can to Lina like shiny warhead, and she caught it easily.

"Gotcha!" she grinned, snapped of the top and began chugging the drink with the air of a lion enjoying a kill. 

Zel noticed Subaru looking a little white. "Don't worry. She's just over-bearing and loud. She's actually really smart, though, and a good friend. She won't bite you—unless you piss her off, of course, and she's got a pretty short temper… But stay clear of the subject of boyfriends and you'll probably survive your Lina experience." Zel gave the kid a wry smile, and Subaru smiled back. 

"Oh, I don't mind. I'm used to girls like that…my sister, and all."

"So, uh…you're transferring to Seyruun High School?"

"Yes. It seems nice."

"Yeah, it's fine. Um…do any sports? Hobbies?" 

"Well, I'm in the Seven Seals…I play alto sax. Other than that…I'm a priest with the white shrine…"

Oh, good. A priest was something Zel was certainly not, so he felt a little safer. For a minute there, the similarities were getting scary. And he didn't play guitar, either. That was a relief. "Xelloss, too…And like Seishirou?"

"Not…exactly. We're with different branches," Subaru explained. "Hokuto is sort of affiliated with it, too…it's a family thing. We're supposed to be spiritualists."

"Are you?"

Subaru nodded. "It sounds strange, but…it's reality to us. Funny, though, how it's often less religious than it is practical…"

"Well, that's sort of the Seyruun way, so I'm sure you'll fit in great!" Amelia cheered.

"Thank you," Subaru said, blushing.

"Oh, look, they're getting into my beautiful food," Zel sighed. "Come on, let's go have something before Lina and Gourry eat it all."

"You made all this?" Subaru asked, awestruck, as they sat down to the picnic.

"Yes. Cooking is my secret talent," Zel said.

"Yeah, that's his SECRET one. Guitar-playing, singing, fencing, computer-programming, poetry-writing, and drawing are just his OBVIOUS talents," Xelloss giggled.

"Wow, you're so cool!" Hokuto squealed. "Subaru! How come you don't do anything interesting, huh?"

"Ho-hokuto…" Subaru stuttered, and nearly dropped his chicken curry sandwich. 

"Ahahahaha!" Seishirou laughed. "Subaru does enough with the band and his spiritual duties, don't you think? He's awfully busy."

"Do you cook?" Zel asked.

"N-no…Hokuto likes to do that…."

"I looove cooking!" Hokuto said. "I'm really into anything fancy—French cuisine is the best!"

"When you don't burn it," Seishirou added.

"Sei-chan!" she whined, and he laughed.

"I wanna hit the water again. Maybe do some waves," Val announced when he'd finished eating. "You game, dude?"

"Bodysurfing? Yeah," smiled Gourry wistfully. Eating and play. Good plan.

Zel noticed that the kid beside him winced at the thought. He glanced over him briefly. Pale as rice, completely covered in a red trench-coat and strange hat—he even wore gloves, for gods-sakes! Zel figured he must have a skin problem, or worse, and wouldn't want to go in the water. He wasn't too comfortable showing much skin around the newcomers himself. 

"Ah, I'm up for a card game indoors, if you're interested…" Zel suggested.

"Oh, yes!" Subaru squeaked too quickly. "I'd really like that!" Embarrassed at revealing too much excitement, he added warily, "I'm quite good at cards and I need to get out of the sun."

Zel nodded and began to pack up the remains of lunch. Xelloss was on the trash pickup, tidying up quickly.

Val chuckled and said in a low tone so that only Gourry could hear him, "And you thought they didn't get any girlier than those two," he nodded towards Xelloss and Zel. Gourry smiled and looked around for Lina.

She was already ripping off her hat and t-shirt cover up. Yep, she was going swimming, too. "Um…" Gourry said.

Val followed his eyes out to sea. Lina, Amelia, and the new Hokuto visitor were preparing for the water. "Yeah, I get yer drift…view's better out that way, heh, heh…."

"There!" Xelloss said, delivering the last of the garbage to a trash receptacle. "What would you like to do?" he asked the pretty girl pointedly.

Hokuto laughed and yanked off her top and kicked off her shorts revealing the tiniest bikini that was legal, in bright blaring pink, with red lip patterns adorning it. Xelloss had no idea what to say next, so he just stood and gaped.

Lina gave him a swift kick.

Hokuto grabbed Xelloss by the hand and giggled, "I'll show you the way! Subaru never likes to do _anything_!"

As they pounded through the sand to the water's edge, Lina commented to Zel as he picked up the picnic baskets and started to leave, "I thought you said Xelloss couldn't swim!"

"That's what he told me," Zel said.

"Well, he does now, I guess," Lina said.

Zel sighed, "He'll probably drown, especially wearing that long t-shirt when the waves catch it."

Lina looked narrowly at him, "So, I should go save him? Is that what you think?"

"Do what you want, Lina. _I'm_ going in to play cards. Hey, Subaru, give me a hand with that cooler, all right?" Zel said and marched off. 

Xelloss wisely stopped at the edge of the water and danced and hopped over the waves. Hokuto was built along the lines of Lina, slender and boyish, also brash and outgoing like Lina, though sweet-cute like Amelia…yeah, Xelloss found lots to admire about this new girl.

Subaru sighed and turned away from his sister and picked up his end of the cooler. "You wouldn't have a sister too, would you?" he asked.

"No," Zel answered as hefted his end and started back to the house. "I was an only child until…last December, when my father married Xelloss' mother and then, Val was fostered in a month later."

"Oh, my…I guess that was…it could be good…"

Zel shook his head, "I thought it was terrible, at first, but now…we're moving in together, Val's remodeled place, by choice…just the three of us."

"No parents? Wow…that's kind of like us. Seishirou works and we all three look out for one another now that our parents are all…gone," Subaru said in a hollow tone.

"My father's alive, but neither Xelloss or Val have living parents any more. Lina lives with an older sister, Amelia with her dad, the mayor of Seyruun. Gourry is the normal one with both parents and a liter of younger siblings…and Filia has a normal family, too, but she's not here today," Zel explained as they finally reached the house.

Zel showed him where to leave the cooler, then led the boy into the living room. Picking up a deck of cards, Zel asked, "So…what do you want to play?"

"Um…anything!" Subaru said, then added politely. "Anything you like!"

Zel nodded and started dealing, "We can start with Gin, then."

Subaru watched the odd looking young man deal out the cards with his long-fingered, slightly scarred hands. The scars were visible up his arms, disappearing into sleeves of his t-shirt. One eye was partially covered by the most amazing lavender-gray, wiry hair that he'd ever seen. When Zelgadiss swept a lock out of his face, Subaru noticed the fine pointed ears sporting earrings and more scarring on his cheek and down his neck. He guessed that his long cargoes covered up more on his legs.

Zelgadiss looked up and caught the other boy staring. Subaru blushed instantly, embarrassed at being caught gawking. "D-Does it hurt you?" he asked with sincere worry.

"What? Oh, this…" he realized the boy was talking about his scars. Hurt? Why would he ask that? "It's all right," Zel sighed. "It's not contagious or anything. My father's chemical lab blew up and I was in the wrong place. My friends…treat me like I'm normal-looking so I sometimes just forget how horrible I must appear to others."

"Oh no!" Subaru said quickly. "I-It's not that! I'm sorry if it seemed like I was staring rudely, but I'm used to having to observe people..." That sounded awkward enough! Subaru picked up his hand and looked over the cards. "Normal is relative, anyway. Normal for me certainly isn't normal for most people. I-I mean, here I am at the beach in a hat and coat and gloves."

Zel looked up from his cards. "Well, I guess we both fit in with this crowd. We've got crazy hair colors, scars, fashion statements, and convoluted family relationships. And that's only the superficial stuff!"

"This is certainly a very unique group. I'll take…two cards, please?" Subaru asked politely.

Zel nodded and dealt the kid two new cards, "I'll stay."

Subaru smiled, "Hmmm, I-I don't know you very well, but I'd say…you are pretty good at covering up what you're thinking… Oh! I'm sorry…really! I didn't mean to call you a liar, or anything!"

"Relax…it's only a card game," Zel frowned slightly at his hand and sighed. This poor kid was a nervous wreck. "Well? It's your turn, draw or something…"

After a half an hour, both boys had traded wins and losses and stood even, regardless of the game selected. Zelgadiss had met his equal in concentration, card counting, and strategy. Xelloss was good, too, but he relied on sly and cunning moves to win as much as raw skill.

"Wow! Are you guy still playing cards?" Gourry asked by the door. He was hosing the sand off his feet and legs on the wooden back deck.

"Yes. Are you still getting wet and sandy?" Zel returned.

"Um…I'm pretty dry now, 'cept for my hair… Um…I'm gonna wash it then…" Gourry paused, then looked around to see if anyone was paying attention. No one was, so he smiled and dropped what he decided he didn't want to say after all. He discarded the hose then loped into the house and down the short hallway to the bathroom, stripping off his trunks as he went. 

Shortly thereafter, Lina, Amelia, and Hokuto clamored into the front room.

"So where's 'studly'? I'm fixin' his hair so it won't get so tangly," Hokuto said in a loud voice. "Oooo, cards! Who's winning?"

"No one," muttered Zel.

"W-We both are!" Subaru said in a shaky voice.

Zel gave Lina an odd look, "If you are looking for Gourry, he's taking a shower. Ah, there, water's off he'll be out in a minute…or not…"

"Zeeeeeeeeeeeel?" Gourry's muffled voice called from behind the bathroom door.

Zel set down his cards and walked quickly to the door, "Yes? Clothes? Towel, too? You know, Lina's here, why don't I get her to bring you some…just kidding, Gourry. Just a minute." Zel smiled and shook his head, then rifled through a hall closet for towels and Gourry's big green bag for a pair of shorts.

Knock, knock! 

"Gourry? Open up…here…yeah, sure. No problem."

When Zelgadiss returned to the front room, he found Amelia entertaining the odd boy and his sister with stories about some of their school experiences from the year before.

Subaru was listening wide-eyed, while Hokuto was laughing aloud. "Sounds like I'm gonna like Seyruun High," she grinned as Xelloss hopped into the room on one foot. The other foot he held in a towel as he tried to dry it and join the group around the cards. His shiny hair bobbed as he bounced gracefully, ending in a fancy dance routine. She clapped him on the shoulder as he settled on the floor next to her.

Lina looked at Hokuto and Gourry through narrowing eyes. Hokuto had taken on Gourry's hair as her project, running her fingers through the great lengths to loosen the knots then combing it slick. It appeared that she was going to braid it in back, like that kid at school…Lina's brain cranked over to remember his name…Duo! Huh, well if Gourry doesn't mind, why should she?

Her eyes slid over to Xelloss, and she asked, "You're only going to be there after lunch, right Xelloss?"

"Ah…huh? Oh, you're asking me about classes at the university. I guess so. Where's that Seishirou guy? Oh, we're all in here!" Xelloss waved to the older man standing in the doorway.

"I can see that. I just went out for some cigarettes…Mind if I smoke?" the older man waved a pack in the air.

"YES!" sounded a chorus of kids.

Val, who was last to get the sand washed off added for his benefit, "None of them smoke and I've been tryin' to quit."

Seishirou held up his hands in defeat. "Fine, then…."

"Do you know anything about our schedules?" Xelloss asked.

Seishirou nodded, then pulled out a folder and read off the top paper. "Yes, both of you have the same classes…Math 150 and Chemistry 101 starting at 8:15 M, W, and F. There's some time in-between classes and they're over around 11 or 11:30, it says here. Chemistry labs are on Tuesday at the same time and take 3-4 hours. There's a bus to bring you back to the high school in time for lunch and the rest of your classes. Thursday you're off. Just show up at the high school in time for your afternoon classes."

"No kidding?" Hokuto gasped. "Are you guys, like, geniuses or something?"

Val entered the room and slouched into an over-stuffed chair, "Nerd-dudes…"

Xelloss smiled, "Not really. We just had some time on our hands and spent it studying instead of partying."

"Ya mean, hidin' in hospitals and bein' real _an-ti-_so-cial," Val grumbled.

Lina kicked him hard enough to get his attention. He slid his eyes her way and she shot him a flame-edged ruby-eyed warning signal 'don't go there…'

"Well, Subaru and Hokuto can understand all that, right?" Seishirou gave them a knowing look. "There isn't much to do in a hospital but read. Too bad my patients don't enjoy books the same way people do!" he laughed again. 

"Subaru, why don't you tell everybody's fortunes?" Hokuto spoke up. "You've got a deck of cards right there and all!"

"I-I don't think they would be interested, Hokuto…" he stuttered.

"Sure we would!" Lina said. "You tell fortunes with playing cards? I thought you only use Tarot cards for that kind of stuff."

"No, you can use pretty much anything to tell the future, if you understand the signs," Seishirou said, cryptically.

Val bristled. "That's weird comin' from a vet," he said, gruffly.

"One way to tell the future is from entrails," Lina said, eyes glimmering. "Maybe that's why—"

"Pretty creepy!" Seishirou smiled. "But no, I'm a priest, so there are mystical-seeming things I have to know about."

"This fortune-telling is a practice passed down in the Sumeragi family for centuries," Subaru said, quietly, shuffling the cards in a new way.

"I wish my family went back for centuries!" Amelia said. "It would be so cool to be able to have family traditions from ages past—like Filia and the clan! Maybe you have traditions, Val. We could find out from old records—"

"Not interested. I don't care 'bout that stuff. Just 'cause some old dead guy who's related to me did something doesn't mean I have to do it."

"I agree," Seishiro said, unexpectedly. "Traditions shouldn't be burdens. Besides, some traditions are better off forgotten."

Val looked over at Gourry-- who was sitting, back to Hokuto, chin to his chest, and half asleep—then over at Xelloss. "Hey, yer a priest. You learn that fortune-tellin' shit?"

Xelloss shook his head and mouthed a silent, "Noooooooo."

"Wh-who's first?" Subaru asked in a gasp, changing the subject.

"Lina!" answered at least three different people.

"I-I see," Subaru smiled nervously and looked down at his hands. Lina scooted closer to him. 

After a quick examination, she decided that he had eyelashes longer than the horse she'd ridden at Filia's settlement, and a delicate beauty she wouldn't wish upon any teenage guy. And why the _hell_ did he wear gloves all the time? This guy was doomed.

He turned over a few cards and frowned slightly in concentration. "Um… Your past is filled with many faces…you are used to controlling events and other people…um…like a complicated balancing act, but then…your future…I see you fleeing…no, that's not quite right…ah…being hounded by many people." 

"She finally flipped and the feds are after her!" Xelloss laughed.

"Or she's bein' chased by an angry mob…" Val suggested.

"Oh! T-that's not as bad as it seems, I feel no terror from you, Miss Lina! It could be fans, or paparazzi… And, um…that's it," the young fortune-teller added breathlessly, as if the entire ordeal of speaking uninterrupted winded him.

"Me next!" cried Amelia while taking his hand and squeezing it excitedly and jumping up and down. 

"Ah, settle down, little girl," Val scoffed. "Yer getting the kid all upset." He chuckled a bit under his breath to Gourry, "Wanna bet he faints, too?"

Subaru cleared his throat and flashed his bright green eyes over at Amelia, "Okay then…your past…" Subaru nodded, "This means…tragic loss at an early age." His voice shook, "I-I'm only reading the cards…I'm sorry if I've upset you."

"Oh, don't worry, Subaru," Amelia told him in a gentle tone. "My mother died when I was younger and it was…terrible, but I've learned to cope. Especially since…" she cut off her words to look around at the others with equally or far more horrible events and losses in their pasts to overcome. "I'm very fortunate in so many ways."

He drew some courage from her warm smile and continued, "Ah…then for your future, it…finds…you filled with excitement and tension, too," he added quickly. "…in front of an audience of many people."

"Looks like you'll be wowing the citizens with speeches after all!" Lina laughed. "Do Gourry next, he's got to have a bright future!" 

Following her orders without question, Subaru shuffled the deck and carefully turned over four cards and laid them face up. He smiled, then said, "You are correct, Miss Lina. Mr. Gourry, I can feel your warmth, caring, and giving—past, present _and _future. A-And…the cards show you building a strong foundation in the future. I-I don't know if that's literal or figurative, but…"

"That means he can't tell if you're laying an actual foundation for a house or the basis for your whole life…or something like that," Lina interjected. Gourry nodded.

Subaru smiled, closing his eyes to avoid the weight of explanation.

Zel checked his watch. "Now, if you'd all stop interrupting the guy," Zel admonished the group. "He could get finished before they have to go."

"Do _his_ future," Lina ordered and pointing her tiny finger at Zelgadiss.

"O-Okay…um…Oh…" his face fell.

"What is it?" Lina pressed.

"Such loneliness…in the past," Subaru covered his face with a gloved hand and composed himself a moment. His slender body shuddered a bit, then he returned his attention to appraising the cards' portent.

B-But the future is very interesting!" Subaru said, his face brightening. "Oh, yes! Mazes, um…puzzles to solve to complete a quest and questions with answers…right around the corner."

Zel sat and silently pondered the fellow's words. Yes, loneliness described his past succinctly. But his future?

"Who's next?" he asked.

"Oh, do him—the punk hunk!" Hokuto urged.

"But I don't wanna—" Val began, but Lina gave him a warning look that cooled him down. "Ah, ya can skip me, if yer wanna take a break or somethin'," he suggested weakly.

"Oh, no!" Subaru looked up eyes wide. "I'm sorry, I'll be just fine. I need to reshuffle a moment."

"All r-right, now Mr. Val?" Subaru smiled. "How…beautiful…"

"Huh? Where?" Val leaned over and scanned the cards for something beautiful. "There had better be a girl in there," he added with a smirk.

Subaru blushed and coughed, "A-Actually…there's all this golden light and… your future and your past are intertwined like a golden chain."

"Oh? Ya see all that in those cards, eh?" Val asked. "I see the queen of hearts and a bunch of diamonds. Sounds like money in the bank fer me!" he chuckled.

"Well, there's that, too," Subaru smiled. He picked up the cards and again shuffled the deck. "You're the last?"

"Oh, I usually am!" Xelloss smiled good-naturedly. "At least I'm included!"

Subaru returned his smile, pulled four cards off the top of the deck, and laid them out. He stared. He shook his head and pulled off another four, then another. Three more tries and his eyes rose to meet Xelloss' in bewilderment. "I-I…" he stuttered to wordlessness.

"HA!" Val chuckled. "Na-tur-al-lee. There ain't nothin' but secrets fer the chaos-kid!"

Subaru gasped, "H-How did you know t-that?!" He was trembling so much that he dropped the rest of the deck onto the floor.

"'Cause that's Xelloss _Metallium_," Val snorted. "Created out of the chaos…a pro-duct of the two most powerful symbols of dis-order, dis-cord, and dis-pair. Shit, didn't ya know _that_, mystic-boy?"

Zel shot him an icy glare seconds before Lina whaled on him with a fist, followed by and a good sharp kick.

"Well, if you're all done with that," Seishirou said, "why don't you tell the Slayers a little about yourselves?" What he knew about the syndicate and the Metallium name, he wouldn't say, but he knew the two kids he brought with him that day knew nothing—and it should stay that way. His cellphone beeped, forcing him to step away for a few minutes to take the call.

"Sure! Hey, ask me anything you want and I'll tell you!" Hokuto offered, modestly.

"Where did you go to school before? I know some kids in Atlas City," Amelia asked.

"Actually…" Subaru said, and Hokuto cut him off.

"We didn't go to school. We were home-schooled at the shrine there, by our Grandmother."

"The shrine there…?"

"Well, it used to be there, but it was destroyed by vandals somehow! That's partially why we came here," Hokuto explained.

The entire Slayers group gulped in unison, which sounded something like a giant frog cannon-balling into a pond full of algae.

"We went to Atlas City once—" Xelloss piped up.

"For a recording session," Lina finished for him. 

"Wow, do you have a CD coming out?" Hokuto asked.

"Well, not exactly…" Lina trailed off. "Anyway, enough about us…"

It was quick-save Xelloss time! "You two…are you identical? Isn't that impossible?" Xelloss asked. "I mean, I'm not a genetics professor, but…"

"Probably," Seishirou said, "but Hokuto isn't one to let genetics boss her around, right?" he laughed a little, and so did the girl.

"That's right! Move over, science, the Sumeragi family are spiritualists! Can't touch us! Ohohohoho!" Hokuto agreed. 

"So, your clothes," Amelia said. "They're pretty unique…"

They certainly were. The shorts and shirt that Hokuto had been wearing over her bathing suit were no mere cut-offs and T-shirt. Red seemed to be the twins' color-scheme for the day. Hokuto's shorts were shiny vinyl with black lace trim, and the shirt was a mandarin-collared Chinese garment with golden and sable dragons embroidered on the crimson satin, and her sandals were red plastic with giant hearts on the cross-strap. 

Subaru, who'd previously been covered entirely by a red trench coat, had chosen that unfortunate moment to over-heat and decide to unbutton it. To everyone's astonishment and horror, the shy, introverted boy was dressed dubiously in a tight, black, sleeveless vinyl bodysuit with a mock-turtle collar. With his funny hat and black gloves, he looked utterly surreal. Everyone turned to look at him, and he froze with the air of a deer caught in the headlights. "Our c-clothes?" he repeated.

Hokuto laughed and threw herself at her brother. "I'm a fashion designer!" she informed them. "Well, an aspiring one. I do all the costume design for the bands, and of course I model it myself!" she grinned. "I'm so lucky to have a brother who the same size as me! That way I can make clothes for guys and girls without having to hire anyone to do measurements! And of course he wears the clothes I make for him."

"Ahhh!" everyone nodded with enlightenment. That explained many things…but still, for such a shy boy to be dressed like that…

Xelloss, not to be caught speechless, cheerfully asked. "So, Subaru, what about those…accessories?"

"Why do I wear gloves, you mean?" Subaru smiled and looked down at his hands.

"They're not just for fashion!" Hokuto said.

"A superstition. My grandmother warned me never to take them off because…" 

"Well, it's a long story, but when one's grandmother is as important a spiritualist as ours, you listen to her!" Hokuto asserted.

"I was just hoping they weren't a fashion statement!" Xelloss chuckled. "You're dressed pretty flashy for someone as soft-spoken as you are—or are you only like this with people you don't know well?"

Subaru blushed crimson.

Amelia punched Xelloss on the arm, "You're one to talk! You're just the opposite." 

Before Xelloss had a chance to argue the point further, Seishirou intervened. "Excuse me, kids, but it seems I am being called away on an emergency at the Animal hospital."

Both Hokuto and Subaru's face fell. She let out a groan, "Oh! This always happens when we try and go somewhere!"

"Well, would it be possible for them to stay here with you kids?" the older man asked, looking over from Zel to Lina for an impression. 

"Yeah, no sweat," Lina said. "Plenty of room, right guys?"

Xelloss was about to say something about the bed count on the boy's side, but one flaming glare from Lina canceled that attempt. "Oh yes!" he smiled.

Val started to grumble under his breath, but caught himself before he received another Lina left hook.

Amelia was already chattering excitedly about a trip to town for toothbrushes. "But I bet Miss Hokuto could borrow one of your t-shirts to sleep in, Mr. Xelloss. And, Zelgadiss? Mr. Subaru is just your size!"

"Oh, joy…" Zel sighed to himself. It was not lost on him that Amelia had dropped the formal 'Mr.' from his name, either. It warned him that she was indicating 'hands off' to the new girl. Oh, Gods….

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Fifteen. ~*~


	16. Chapter 16

****

The Slayers: **Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel**

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Sixteen 

"Well, thank you for your lunch and your hospitality. So sorry to crash your vacation, especially with news about school," Seishirou apologized.

"Oh, no problem!" Lina waved away his concerns.

"But Sei-chan!" Hokuto whined, "I wanted to hang out with you!"

"Well, I'm sorry, but duty calls. Don't worry! Now that we're all moving here, it'll be a lot easier to see each other. Right, Subaru?" Seishirou involved the other twin in the conversation.

"R-right!" Subaru said. "Besides, H-Hokuto, it's an emergency! That means some poor animal is in trouble."

And I don't want my baby brother to get sad," Hokuto sighed. "Well, okay." She tip-toed over to the older man and kissed him on the cheek. "But you're going to have to take me shopping to make up for it!"

"All right," Seishirou laughed. "We'll make it a date, right? Ahahahahaha!" He waved cheerfully and stepped outside, closing the door after himself.

"W-wait!" Subaru cried suddenly, and leapt up to his feet. "Excuse me," he told the assembled youth as he followed hot on Seishirou's footsteps. 

"What's up with him?" Val snorted.

Hokuto shrugged. "Maybe he, uh, left something in the van. Or maybe he's professing his love to Sei-chan!" she giggled. "Either way, he'll be right back. Now, tell me—how come your parents will let you all stay here un-supervised and all?

"I got no parents, nor does Xelloss, but the girls… well… We are trust-wor-thee re-pre-sen-ta-tives of the male po-pu-la-tion," Val leered her way, then snorted back a laugh at her expression of incredulity.

From her standpoint, he didn't look like the type she'd trust being alone with for ten seconds! Standing about 6 foot 5 inches tall with gangly bronzed limbs, Val's vivid spiked green hair, tattoos, piercings and rings contributed to the dangerous, impressive aura he painstakingly cultivated.

"Aren't you kind of the same? Or is Seishirou your legal guardian?" Zel asked.

"Oh, no! He's just, well, a kind of family friend…it's complicated. But isn't he sooo cool! He's like a big kid—that can drive!"

"He sure knows some weird stuff," Lina mentioned.

"Well, sure, but so does Subaru, you know. Different shrines have different traditions," Hokuto said. 

The sound of the van's engine revving and then pulling away issued from outside.

"Where IS Subaru, anyway?" Hokuto wondered.

"Maybe he decided to leave with Seishirou?" Xelloss suggested.

"Oh no!" Hokuto gasped. "They left without me! That must mean—that must mean---" she put a hand on her brow dramatically and looked away. "They've ELOPED!"

"H-hokuto!"

Subaru had re-entered the cabin during her speech, unnoticed, and heard enough to be blushing and pulling his hat down over his eyes to hide.

"Oh, there you are, Subaru! Ohohohoho!" she laughed it off. "I was scared that my two favorite guys were leaving me! What would I do, a sixteen-year-old girl, all by myself? What are horrible thought!"

"I'll say," Val muttered. Lina didn't hit him this time.

"What took you so long, Subaru?" Hokuto demanded.

"N-nothing!" he claimed, and found a chair to huddle in away from her evergreen-gaze.

"Well, now that we're all back together," Lina diverted the conversation, "What should we do? Oh, wait, I know!"

Since they all played music and enjoyed listening to it, Lina fired up the CD player and treated everyone to her 'download' selections and the Slayers 'demo' CD. It wasn't long before everyone was dancing and singing along.

"Hey, Zel!" Lina shouted. "You stuffed that guitar in the car, right?"

Yes, he did. Did he want it broadcast to everyone? No. No, he did not.

"Don't you give _me _that look, buster," she snarled at him. How dare he think he could defy her will! "Go get it! I got some new stuff to go over with ya!"

Well, that was a little better. Helping Lina write a new song... Yes, he'd be cooperative, now.

Val was grumbling to Gourry. "I don't like that guy. Something about him. Phony."

"Who? That one?" Gourry indicated Subaru with a toss of his braid.

"No, the one that left, _Say-sheer-owe_. He knows about the syndicate and bunches of other dark secrets, you can bet," Val grumbled, arms crossed and golden eyes hard and steely.

Hokuto poked at Amelia's arm, "I don't think your Mr. Val friend likes us very much."

Amelia snickered a little, "Oh, Mr. Val's in a bad mood because Miss Filia couldn't come along. He really likes her a lot and she…I think likes him too but they both flirt and tease each other."

"Oh…I get it…and he misses her. Poor baby," Hokuto giggled along with Amelia. "And did I cross some other barrier by doing the blonde's hair, who by the way is one gorgeous hunk."

Amelia gave a lightening quick glance Lina's way. Good, Lina is distracted and bickering with Zelgadiss. "Miss Lina kinda watches over us all…" she said cautiously. "But I think Mr. Gourry has eyes only for her. It's soooo romantic, I think."

"Oh, how cute! Okay, so then does Mr. Xelloss have a girlfriend?"

"No, but he's wanted one for the longest time. Why? Do you think he's cute?" Amelia asked conspiratorially. Not that she would dabble in any matchmaking stuff. Not after Sylphiel.

"Oh, man, YES!" Hokuto shrieked. "I can't believe he's not taken! He really can dance, too!"

"He's…new at school, in a way…then he was a novice part of last year…and…he's been real busy this summer. Up until now," Amelia was sweating bullets trying to pass over the bloody details and yet not make him sound like a weirdo. Sure…how easy _that_ was! "Are you—"

"Interested in him? No way! I'll always be true to my Sei-chan!" Hokuto declared. "I just wish he'd stop aging for a while so I could catch up!" she winked at Amelia. Suddenly, she leaned in, eyes squinted nearly closed and her voice lowered "But…you like the elf guy…don'tcha?"

Amelia blushed and nodded, "Is it _that_ obvious?"

"So what gives? He like you or what?" Hokuto asked.

"Um, he's just really shy, I think…" Amelia said. She wasn't in the mood to open up to this unknown element, just yet.

"Shy?" Hokuto started to argue but was interrupted by another shout.

"Hey, Amelia!" Lina shouted from the arm of the couch. Next to her was Zel, who was tuning his acoustic guitar. "I've got a song for yer sister I started when we were visiting her, but I think you could sing it. Its called _Midnight Blue_."

"And you?" Amelia whispered to Hokuto as they joined Lina and Zel. "Does Seishirou like you, too?" 

"That's a secret!" Hokuto smiled and looked to the door to where her brother was reentering, head down in concentration. "That song Lina's working on--that's beautiful, ya know? You guys are really talented. What you need are hot, eye-catching costumes on stage, I bet!"

"Well, um…"

"I could design the best, just wait!"

"You need to talk to Lina about anything like that," Amelia warned the enthusiastic girl. "Then the whole band has to agree."

"I need ta see the water," Val growled. He stood up and stretched. "And feel the sun." His eyes met Gourry's, then asked, "You comin'?"

"Yup. Now that my hair's outta the way, it'll be easier to catch the waves," Gourry said as he shook the cobwebs out of his brain and woke up. "Gotta move…"

Zel and Lina discussed the song some more, until Lina declared it was time to get some fresh air and hopped up. Xelloss wandered over to where Amelia and Hokuto were sitting and offered them each a hand up. "Shall we go play a bit before dinner?" he asked.

Ring, ring!

"Whose?"

Ring, ring!

"Lina, it's your cellphone!" Zel called out to her. "Who is it? I don't know…HE didn't say," he smirked at her as he tossed the phone at her.

"Yeah?!" she shouted. "I'm on vacation and about to hit the sand so make it snappy!" She frowned, then smiled as she recognized the caller. "Tasuki! Hey, how goes it? Great…Who? You wanna talk to Xelloss? I'll give you his number, but he's right outside the door. What?! YOU MUST BE KIDDING! Yeah, well don't joke about stuff like that with me. I want no romantic ties, get it?! Okay…hold on."

She ran to the door and screamed, "X E L L O S S !"

"Yes, Lina?" he returned in a flash.

"Call fer ya…Tasuki," she added to answer his unasked question.

"My, my…Tasuki? What a surprise. My help? Replacing Nuriko? What's the matter? Oh…that's rough… For how long do you think? I see, well…I'll have to check with my boss…Lina, of course! Who else?" Xelloss smiled and asked, "Nuriko has laryngitis and the band has two more gigs. They need a stand in and I'm the only one they could think of who already knew their material and could learn the dance routines on such a short notice. They could live without me, but…I don't really care one way or the other… I'm a Slayer first and foremost, so…"

"Go ahead," Lina smiled. "Get yer mind on something else, eh? Oh, but ask him about the costume. I don't think you wanna start cross-dressing at eighteen years old, right?" she chuckled as his eyes widened.

"Oh, that's right! Thanks, I'd never considered that!" Xelloss turned back to the cellphone. "Tasuki, um, oh…you heard, well? No, definitely NOT! I have my own kimono top. I'll be less colorful, like the shadow of Nuriko, 'kay? So, how about a practice? Okay…my number is…"

"Waitaminute—Tasuki? Nuriko?" Hokuto squeaked. "You mean—you know the Suzaku Seven?!"

"Yep," Lina said. "Tasuki's an old friend of mine and Nuriko's one of Xelloss' and now we're all buddies. We toured with them earlier."

"And I guess I'm the new Nuriko," Xelloss sighed, turning off the phone and handing it to Lina.

"Yeah, well, he'd do it fer you—'cept I doubt he could play drums worth beans," Lina shrugged.

"Wow! Now that's four bands with connections!" Hokuto said. "You know…Subaru, isn't there a big competition coming up?"

"Y-yes, the Battle of the Bands…it's a fund-raiser for an out-reach program, if I remember correctly. But I'm not sure—"

"Yeah, you guys should definitely enter!" Hokuto said. "I'm sure the Suzaku Seven will, and the Seals and Harbingers certainly are. There's a whole bunch of other bands in the area, you know—like those Sailor girls and the Gun-damn guys or something… whatever they are. Of course the Seals are the best—or maybe the Harbingers are…Oooh! I can't choose! I just can't choose between my brother and my honey! Cruel fate!" she cried theatrically.

"H-hokuto," Subaru sighed. 

"Pshht," Val spat. "I wouldn't get so riled up. WE can beat out both bands, any day of the week. The Slayers are NUMBA ONE, baby!" Val howled like a wolf.

"Hear, hear!" Lina agreed.

"Yay!" from Amelia.

"Yay. We're entering, aren't we?" Zel sighed. "No way I can talk you out of this--?"

"No way."

"I thought not," Zel gave up.

"_Honey_?" Xelloss whined.

"Lucky for you, she's taken," Zel commented unsympathetically. "Come on. I know where there are piles of logs waiting for construction."

Xelloss caught his friend's twinkling eye, "Forts… I'll pass it on to Val… and Gourry should love it, too. Why with him on the construction crew we should be able to build some really impressive stuff!"

"What's that?" Val asked.

"Zel's taking us to play with the big tinkertoys. You know, the ones for men. O-o-o-oh, Gour-ree?" Xelloss yodeled. "This'll be fun!"

Val actually was hoping that they'd be able to romp like kids again, but with the strangers and the girls, he wasn't so sure. He had an image to maintain. However, Xelloss did not, and so, he took it upon himself to gather everyone and cajole them all into participating with him as his 'therapy'. That worked too! Do it to help poor 'never had a childhood' Xelloss. Guilt-tripped them all, not that it was necessary, of course. Everyone wanted to build forts and 'houses' out of the huge driftwood beams scattered on part of the beach. They just didn't know how to get started…

"I-I've never quite…done this before," Subaru admitted, looking shyly at the piles of wood that the kids were picking through.

"Oh, look at this one! It's shaped like a 'Y'—a bet you can do something with this!" Hokuto exclaimed over a treasure.

"Yeah, that's big enough to be a support pillar!" Gourry appraised it. "Hey, Val! Help me haul this one out, if you're not busy."

Zel noticed that Subaru looked distressed and a little lost. How could he dig through the sand in delicate gloves? How could he lift chunks of wood with twiggy arms? He was very quiet, standing there looking past them all at the sea.

"Ah, Subaru?" Zel said in a low voice. "I could use a little help with mine, would you mind?"

"M-Me? I, well, of course. How can I assist you?" the delicate boy asked.

"Take that end, right, and lift it over there, while I take the other and it'll be turned around so that…" Zel began.

"Oh, yes! I-I can see now what you are trying to do! You'll need another log on top over there."

"Ah, yes. Well, we'll look for that next, then. I'm pretty strong, but the work goes faster with some help," Zel smiled slightly, reassuring the other guy of his usefulness.

Soon they were all building lodges', 'cottages', and– in Lina's case—sorceress' castles in varying degrees of ineptitude. 

"And if you put that one on top, it'll look like a shrine gate!" Subaru said, excited. This was fun! If only his stupid gloves weren't in the way…

"Yeah, that'll look cool," Zel humored him. "Here, let's get that log over there…"

Lina's castle had a triangular archway entrance, with a single roof-beam balanced on top and lodged into a sand dune in the back. She was finding poles long enough to be stuck in the ground but still lean on the roof-beam to make walls and ceiling in one go. "But if I leave this section open, I can start another room in this section…" She looked up. "Amelia!"

"What?" Amelia asked.

"How's yours going?"

Amelia looked at her pile of sticks. Engineering just wasn't her strong suit…

"Sucky, huh? Well, then—join with me! Gimme your sticks and we'll finish the roof and start on this part," Lina ordered.

"Okay!" Amelia was actually somewhat relieved. 

Xelloss had an idea. "Hokuto! Ours are right next to each other—what if we knocked out this section and combined them? We'd have the biggest fort of all!"

"Sure!" Hokuto's eyes gleamed. She was the competitive sort, at heart, and, well, she always secretly believed that she was the best anyway, so any outlet to prove it... "It'll be the best! What if we…" she whispered something in Xelloss' ear. When she noticed Val watching her, she stuck her tongue out at him and went back to talking to Xelloss. 

"Uh…what're you doing?" Val asked Gourry.

"Huh? Oh, I'm building up sand around the base—a wind-shield, and it'll support the rest," he explained. His had pillars and triangles jutting up from the sand, ready to be filled in, and looked the most sturdy. 

"Want help? You've gotta be good at this, since you're in the con-struc-tion biz and all…" 

"Uh, sure…why does it matter?" Gourry scratched his head.

"'Cause that creepy little girl thinks that she and Xelly can make the best fort—and I'm gonna prove her dead wrong!" Val declared with fervor.

"Oh yeah?" Lina said, over-hearing him. "You've got some competition, you know! Me and Amelia—ours would win by artistic merit alone!"

"Screw artistic merit! Ours is gonna stand up if it gets hit with a typhoon!" 

"You think you've taken us out of the running?" Xelloss piped up. "Ours is big AND well-designed, and we've got all sorts of plans!"

"Looks like a heap of crap to me!"

"Yeah, well, yours looks like a skeleton!" Hokuto sneered back at Val.

"And both of yours are hunks of junk compared to my castle!"

"Oh, dear…they look serious!" Subaru quavered quietly to Zel.

"They're always serious about trivial things. It helps distract them from the big things in life that they can't deal with," Zel told him. "Now, what if we dug this part out…"

"I see, like this…"

"I'll bet you never even get yours done!" Lina sniffed at Val.

"None of us will if we keep arguing!" Hokuto cried. "Come on, Xelloss! Let's get to work!"

"Fine! Come on, Amelia! We need more sticks!"

"Right!" Amelia found a pile. "Perfect!"

"Oh, no you don't!" Hokuto screeched. "I saw that pile first!"

"Well, we need them more!"

"Says who?"

"W-well, I do! As the champion of justice, I say finders keepers!"

"That's not justice!" Hokuto grabbed some sticks.

"Hey, that's stealing! Stealing's wrong!" Amelia grabbed them, too.

"Not if no one owns it!" Hokuto pulled, hoping to dislodge them from Amelia's grip. But the little girl was far stronger—and more tenacious—than Hokuto had expected…

"Um…I need another big log," Gourry mentioned to Val. "Like this size…" he pointed to one already standing.

"Sure—how's that one?"

"Perfect! You can handle that one yourself, I know. It'll go here…"

Val strode off to the debris pile containing the chosen log and wrapped his big, tan fingers around it.

"Hey, hands off our log!" It was Lina, before him, with her hands on the far end of the wood, trying to drag it away.

"Don't see yer name on it," Val snorted.

"It's right here!" Lina punched him.

"Hey!" he growled. "You've been whalin' on me all day—it really pisses me off!"

"Wanna make something of it? I'd love to see you fight back!" Lina challenged him.

"You asked for it, firebrand!" Val ran at her, and she nimbly jumped out of the way. He swung around and kicked the legs out from under her. From the ground, she dove at his and tripped him, too. And he, being taller, had a long way to fall… "Gaaa!"

In the meantime, Amelia and Hokuto were still playing tug-of-war with the sticks. Xelloss began wondering where his teammate had gone off to, and emerged from his project to find them childishly refusing to give in.

"Hello? Hello? Amelia, just give us the sticks. There are plenty more…"

"Then there are plenty more for you! Miss Lina wants these sticks!" Amelia protested.

"Oh, come on, Amelia—aren't you always complaining of being treated like a little kid?" Xelloss wrapped his fingers around the bundle, also…

By this time, Lina and Val were rolling over and over, grappling with blood-lust in their hearts. Both were volatile by nature, and had been deprived of any way to express their pent-up aggression. This felt great! Well, expect for the pain…

"Hmm…just a little more sand built up on this side, and—Subaru, will you drag over some of that washed-up kelp?"

"Sure!"

"Wait!" Zel noticed something. "Subaru, you're not wearing your gloves!"

"Y-yes," he blushed, hiding his white, barely sandy hands. "I couldn't dig with them on, you see…I'll go get that kelp!" he ran off to the lapping tide.

Zel shook his head. What a strange and mysterious kid…though he was sure that the more he knew about him, the stranger he'd be. What had taken him so long saying good-bye? What secrets did he have? Zel realized that he didn't want to know. It would be better if he didn't know this poor child's whole messed-up story…

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Both of you!" Xelloss tugged harder. "You're acting," he grunted with effort, "like children!"

"Damn you, bastard!"

"You little—"

Gourry watched his friends fight and sighed. Why couldn't they just be more reasonable? "Now, now," he walked over to the tussling Lina and Val. "Can you guys relax?"

"Stay out of this!" Lina warned him before biting one of Val's fingers that was heading for her throat.

Gourry furrowed his brow. Then relaxed and, with a sigh, returned to his project. If they didn't want his assistance...

Lina and Val were on their feet, when Lina leaped at his face, yanking his headband over his eyes. He blindly lashed out nearly catching her up in his talons, but rolled his foot over a pile of loose driftwood and fell backwards, flailing his arms and knocking down the 'front porch' of Lina and Amelia's place.

"OH!" Lina howled. Murder was in her eyes. 

Amelia dropped the sticks, sending Hokuto to her ass. "Oh, no!" wailed Amelia. Her limpid eyes drew to steely hardness, determination creasing her brow. "We must take a stand for justice and strike back!" 

"Oh, crap!" Val moaned, rubbing his twisted ankle and bruised shoulder. His head snapped up at the sound of Lina's little scuffling feet tearing off in the direction of his structure. "Noooooo, don't mess with my place, you little…"

Lina started messin'. Crash!

Xelloss helped Hokuto up in a very gentlemanly fashion and they returned to their building while Val, Lina, Amelia and Gourry were suitably occupied.

Gourry looked up from the log he had been toting down the beach to see Lina on a rampage through the structures with Val roaring in hot pursuit. Both of them were zeroing in on HIS well crafted, but as yet unfinished edifice. "Um, Lina? Linaaaaaa! Vaaaaal! That's my stuff!" he yelled and set off at full speed to intercept anyone attempting to bring down his masterpiece.

Oblivious to Xelloss, who was about to complete a rather delicate balancing act to complete his roof, Gourry gently nudged the smaller guy in his failed attempt to block Lina from her prize. "Um, sorry, Xelloss…" he muttered, then turned his attention to Lina. "Now, Lina, ya don't wanna mess with this stuff. It's mine and I've spent a lotta time on it." Gourry gave her a wide-eyed puppy-dog look sure to turn her from her path of certain destruction.

Xelloss, after being winged by Gourry who out-weighed him by 100 pounds, fell headlong into his main supporting wall, sending the roof rolling down on top of him. "Ughhhhh…"

"Oh, dear, Xelloss!" Hokuto exclaimed. "Are you all right?! Here—" she helped to dig him out of the debris in a less-than-ladylike manner.

"Come on, Miss Lina," Amelia urged her violent friend in a moment of reason. "It is Mr. Val we should be attacking, Not Mr. Gourry!"

"Fine!" And Lina was after Val's blood again, drawn away from Gourry, to his relief. However, the relief was not long-lived… 

Xelloss was back on his feet, and he was coming.

Gourry stretched himself nearly ten feet in every direction blocking the path to his building. He was determined to shield it with his body, his greatest asset. Xelloss was smiling as his twirled a long thin pole of wood like one of his karate bo staves. "You should not have bumped me, Gourry. Now you shall pay…"

"Watch out!" Val cried, running past them at full bore away from Lina and ducking behind the nearest shelter (which was…?)

"Go get him, Xelloss!" Hokuto cheered.

"Vengeance!" Xelloss cried.

Ignoring the dynamic battle about to ensue, Lina propelled her little body like a missile right past Gourry and tackled the nearest pillar of the fortress. It wavered, listed heavily to the left, then slid inexorably down under the weight of the overloaded roof – due to Amelia's triumphant stance upon its top!

"Justice triumphs!" Amelia cried on her way down.

"…" Subaru flinched. "That didn't sound good."

"Better not look. I'm sure it's a disaster. See, this is a great roofing material, isn't it?" Zel said.

"It's perfect! And there's plenty of it, too. It'll go great with these," Subaru started weaving sticks in with the kelp, "now that they won't be needing them anymore," he smiled.

Zel shook his head, smiling as well. While the battle raged on behind them, the two boys wove sticks into a mat of seaweed for a rainproof roof.

"And this stump would make a great chair!" Subaru cooed.

Great. Now he was furnishing the darned thing! He was a little too into this… But Zel didn't have the evil drive to dishearten this poor kid. It was probably the first time he'd ever been out in unbridled nature left to his own devices, after all. 

When the dust finally settled and the players, exhausted, lay their squabbles aside…all that was left standing which could be classified as a 'building' was Zel and Subaru's kelp shrine. 

Val tried knocking the sand out of his hair, but it was pretty well glued together with his hair gel. He grumbled something deprecating about little girls, but not loudly enough for any one qualifying to be called that to overhear. 

Gourry stood, arms folded and surveyed the damage. Yep, nothing he could ever build would ever be able to withstand a Lina-cane, unless… He pondered using steel I-beams the next time.

Amelia and Hokuto were scrabbling on the ground trying to help Xelloss find a contact lens which had relieved itself of its purpose and deposited itself under Lina's foot (unbeknownst to anyone).

Lina hopped to her feet, grinding the delicate little plastic disk into the sharp sand. "Well, looks like the last one standing is Zel and Subaru's."

"Oh loooooookie!" Hokuto crooned. "Isn't it precious! Subaru, you are so clever! Look how nicely woven the roof is! And the inside is all dug out and…it even has a place to sit inside!"

"That was my idea!" Subaru gushed.

"Of course it was," she smiled. "I'm just surprised your partner there let you get away with it!"

Both Zel and Subaru blushed on cue, sending Lina and company into gales of laughter. Even Xelloss laughed, glad not to be the one under scrutiny for odd behavior.

Zel tried to cover his embarrassment with a show of checking his watch. "You know, if you want dinner, we should be building a rock-lined pit and starting a fire."

"Yer got the Boy Scout ta do that fer ya," Val growled. "I'm showerin' this mess outta my hair." He leaned in closer to Zel as he passed him saying, "So, what was with the watch checkin' routine? Yer not even wearin' one." 

"Hey, Xelloss!" Lina said. "You gonna let him do that? He and Gourry already have a head start on ya…" Xelloss looked blankly back at her. "You're usually two showers ahead of everyone by now," she added with a chuckle.

"I'm not that messy," he countered. "Am I?" he asked, then scratched his sandy scalp and watched a flurry of fine sand fall out. "Ewwww, now you've got me thinking about it! _And_ I have to go find some glasses!"

"My fingernails are dirty…" Subaru gasped in a near whisper. He raised is watery green eyes up to Zel's and smiled. "I've never had dirty fingernails…with the gloves and all!" 

"You wouldn't have," Zel replied with restraint.

Hokuto gasped. "Subaru! You-your gloves!"

"They're right here," he dug them out of his red coat pocket and showed them to her, blushing redder than Zel's sunburn. 

"B-but!" she choked, "You've never taken them off before! Not—not like this!"

"You can't dig in sand with gloves on," he said, quietly.

"Subaru! You have to put them back on right away!" Hokuto dragged him off to the house after the sandy Val and the creeped-out, partially blind Xelloss, presumably to wash his hands.

Lina shook her head. "That is one bizarre kid."

"Tell me about it," Zel groaned.

"Nice, polite, and completely whipped into submission. He's even worse than you!"

"Thank you, Lina. Nice to know there's someone under me in the social order."

"Hey, you can't be on the bottom forever," Lina shrugged. "Let's dig that pit! I wanna eat when the wusses are done preening themselves."

"Amelia, would you go find the food?" Zel asked, and relayed a list of what they needed. Delighted to be useful to her beloved Zelgadiss, Amelia scurried to carry out the orders.

Zel smirked at Lina when the younger girl was out of sight. 

"Yeah, yeah, I get your point," Lina conceded. Then re-conquered with, "But Amelia doesn't count."

Gourry's eyes followed Amelia for a few seconds before he called out to Lina, "Ah…guess I should help carry stuff, right Lina?"

"Then neither does Gourry for you," was Zel's satisfying rebuttal.

"Hey!" Lina growled. "Let's not go there, pal." Suddenly, Lina's warning look gave way to mirth. "But—did you see Val's _hair_? It was like a sandcastle on his head!"

"Hey, gimme that hotdog!" Lina yelled as hers slid off the end of her stick and into the coals. "I don't care if it's a little burned."

"More like charred, Lina," Zel noted as he gingerly rolled the meaty object into some ashes and stabbed at it with a shorter stick. "And I think it's still cold inside. There aren't any juices bubbling out."

"Zelgadiss, for the love of…I am hungry and I don't give a flying fig for your appraisal of my culinary expertise!" she said, batting away his hand and dumping the sad result onto her plate. "Now, gimme a bun, with catsup and mustard!"

"As you wish," Zel smirked. "And what is it that I can do for you, Val?"

"Show me how ya git yers so perfect," Val grumbled. His hotdog was splitting down the middle with blisters covering one end and the tell-tale signs of 'never been touched by warmth' on the other end.

"Patience, my man…patience," Zel smiled and gave his second stick a quarter turn. "Watch this…"

"Yeah, watch this!" Lina shouted. Then, without further warning she snagged his beautiful hotdog and jammed the entire thing into her mouth, chewed, then swallowed it in five seconds flat. "Whoooohooooo! Am I good or what!" she crowed.

Zelgadiss opened his mouth to complain, but decided against it, knowing that it wouldn't do any good anyway. Instead, he pierced another hotdog with his stick and began anew.

"What are you doing?" Zel asked the odd Subaru kid sitting beside him like a shadow.

"I-I…um…dropped it. I mean, I t-tried to turn it and it slipped right off and now…I think it fell somewhere back in these coals," the boy said sorrowfully.

"Just start over. There are plenty more—tofu dog, right? I'm glad you're eating them, because no one else does. We've got a vegetarian friend, and I forgot she wasn't coming so I picked up these by mistake. Here, let me do that. Don't those gloves bother you?" Zel said. He was getting exasperated by too many people around him.

"Y-Yes, they do, but…it doesn't matter. I have to wear them. Oh, thank you for fixing my hotdog. I see, you are using the rocks to wedge your stick in place so it doesn't fall!"

"Yesssss," Zel hissed. "You can watch mine as well, excuse me…"

He hurried off to an out-of-sight spot and huddled alone in the dark. Zel was not a party person; he needed his personal down time.

Xelloss took turns feeding either Hokuto or Lina bits of his food, while Hokuto offered him tastes of hers for comparison. Amelia giggled and told them they reminded her of cute little baby birds being fed by the big mother bird. That stifled the game immediately. Lina hated 'cute' more than she loved being fed, apparently, and Xelloss didn't feel very motherly toward either of the pretty birds eating out of his hands.

Gourry had learned his own tricks through Boy Scout training. Had anyone noticed, they would have seen how he had used two sticks running parallel through eight hotdogs in a row. None fell off. Everything cooked just fine. He wolfed them down before Lina moved over his way to check out his progress.

"Nothin' to eat?" she asked him.

"Um, ah…not now…" he said, gulping down the last remnants of hotdog number eight.

Shaking her head, Lina indicated her empathy for his situation. "Yeah, well, here…take this one. It was Zel's anyway and I know you need to eat to keep up your strength."

Gourry did a double take. Was Lina being…generous? "Um, gee, thanks Lina!" he sputtered out at last. "Are you sure?"

"You had better swallow it before she has second thoughts and takes off your hand in her haste to devour it!" Hokuto cautioned. A low growl from Lina signaled the error of her ways. "Oh, come on! It was just a joke…"

"Ha ha ha," Lina muttered. 

She sniffed and turned to see Xelloss holding a flaming torch aloft. "What are you doing, Xelloss?!"

He winced a little behind his recently unearthed glasses, then smiled, "Marshmallows?"

Subaru was cowering back away from the flames, but his eyes were plastered to them. This was the most amazing day of his existence. He'd never done such…ordinary things with so many extra-ordinary kids his own age, or so he judged they were. Building forts, cooking out… Entranced by the dancing flames, he slowly leaned closer…

"Watch out!!!" someone shouted.

Val and Gourry dove for the poor kid, Val knocking him out of the way and Gourry scooping him up and carrying him away from the towering inferno.

"Suuuubaruuuuuu!" his sister cried out. "Are you okay?!"

"Y-Yes….I-I don't know…w-what happened just n-now?" he gasped, visibly shaken.

"You just about fell into the fire, little buddy," Gourry said patting him on the head. "Where's Zel? Hey, Val? You know where Zel is?"

"Yeah, he's shoulderin' the weight of the world off over that way, somewhere," Val squinted into the dark beyond the sheltering dune nearest him. "I'll go get him…"

He found Zel staring at the starless void overhead, contemplating his pointless existence, as usual. 

"Yo, dude," Val growled. "Yer presence is needed by the fire to keep the space-case alive."

"Oh?" Zel said looking over toward the source of the noise. "He's all right, just…no odder than we must seem to him, I guess." He stood, agilely hopping over a pile of driftwood and rocks.

"He nearly burned up in the fire without you there to pro-tect him," Val snickered.

Zel heaved a snatch of wood at Val, clipping him on the side. 

"Hey!"

"Hey, yourself, Val!" Zel smirked as he found a spot (which magically opened up as he showed up) between Subaru and Amelia. "Oh, joy…" he muttered.

Amelia was saying how scary it was _all_ _dark_ with _only_ the fire for light. She used that as an excuse to draw closer to Zel. Zel sighed and looked around to see if anyone noticed. Xelloss smiled and shook his head from the other side of the fire.

"So now what? I'm not ready to go back to the house!" Hokuto said.

"We-el…" Xelloss drawled out the word as he lowered his voice. "I think…it…is…time for…tales…of terror…"

"Oh, Mr. Xelloss! I'm already all creeped out!" Amelia half cried, half giggled in her excitement. "He tells the absolutely most frightening stories, and they're mostly true, too!" she maintained.

"Well, now you've got him all worked up, there's no stopping him," Zel chastised her amiably. 

Lina found a rock that yielded to her will and pulled a towel, which had materialized around her neck, over her skinny shoulders. Might as well get comfortable…

Gourry felt a sharp little shoulder blade dig into his side a moment and looked down to see Lina snuggling up. He draped a dry towel over her shoulders and smiled. Nothing could spoil this evening for him now…

Val settled down between the Lina-Gourry lump and Xelloss. He wished Filia had been able to come. Now would be the perfect time to watch the golden highlights in her hair sparkle in the flickering firelight. He picked up his discarded shirt and stuffed his arms into the sleeves, then fumbled for a cigarette. No…not tonight…and found his little notebook and a stub of a pencil. In the dusky light, he began a poem…

"In our school," Xelloss began, looking pointedly at the twins, "There are seven halls: the 100 hall, the 200, 300, 400, 500, and 700."

"You forgot the six-hundred hall," Hokuto piped up.

"Ah, but there is no six-hundred hall—or is there?" his eyes flashed as his voice grew hollow. "You can look for it, if you want. We'll give you a tour in September—the 100 hall has the Gym, nurse's office, health room, psychology room, home ec, and cooking type classes. 200 has foreign language and the computer lab, 300 is Social studies, 400 is English, 500 is science, and 700 is the second story with math. On one end is the gym, the other has the auditorium, and the cafeteria is in the middle."

"If this doesn't start getting scary, I'm gonna fall asleep!" Lina warned.

Xelloss ignored her. "For a long time, I thought that nobody knew anything about it—then I found the right people to ask, and with my keys…"

"His keys?" Subaru whispered to Zel for assistance.

"He has keys to every lock in the school. Don't ask why." 

"Well, I couldn't get any solid information, but I did find out that there are secret passages in the school—and one door that I don't have a key to. So I asked around again, and eventually…

"You see, our school was built in the fifties. When it was being constructed, the original plans called for one hall to be on top—the second-story math hall, and one to be underneath—a bomb shelter. It was the fifties, after all. They used to have bomb drills and they'd lead all the students down there to cower in the semi-darkness every couple of months—like fire drills and lock-down drills today.

"But they stopped doing them far before they stopped showing 'duck and cover' film reels in classrooms—not because the nuclear scare was over, but because of…a tragedy."

Hokuto gasped. Xelloss smiled slightly, a sinister curling of his mouth and thought about how he'd love to scare this cutie and her brother! She might cling to him in fear a little—and Subaru might do something embarrassing to Zel. He continued.

"Once, after a drill, a couple of goof-off kids—freshmen just wanting to scare their teachers and have a good time, broke into the shelter a few days after their first drill-time visit, and hung out there for a few hours, glad to be skipping class. But when they decided that was enough, they wanted to come out and see the trouble they caused, they found that they couldn't open the door! Some well-meaning janitor had walked by and locked it, unaware of their presence and probably hoping to circumvent such a thing from happening.

"Well, after the initial panic, they thought they would be fine until the next drill—there was all of that canned food and those supplies down there, after all—enough to last a nuclear winter," Xelloss smiled fiendishly. "But they were wrong. They never saw the next drill, never saw the terrible trouble they caused.

"You see, there was a flaw in the building's construction. Somehow, the airflow to the six-hundred hall was cut off, and the central heating exhaust funneled into the bomb shelter. The six-hundred hall was a deathtrap. The boys suffocated to death on carbon monoxide."

"That's horrible!" Amelia and Hokuto both cried.

"And because they never got to see their school's reaction to their death… in life, they still haunt the bomb shelter—they still linger there to see if they can draw anyone in. Because they weren't the last kids to die down there. There were two more in the sixties, and another in the seventies. In fact, I found out about this from a teacher who went here back then and knew the kid who died. The kid was obsessed with finding out about the 600 hall—and that was his doom. The trouble-makers haven't claimed a victim in a long time. That's why there is no key to the door—they don't want us getting down there, for fear of the vengeful ghosts." He finished.

That was a scary one! Regardless of any 'Xelloss touches', it was a perfectly plausible story, and chillingly close to home. Somehow…it didn't seem like a lie.

"Why hasn't somebody put them to rest?"

Everybody jumped, then turned to look at Subaru, who had spoken.

"I mean, if they're dangerous, you can dispel them—help them pass on."

"Subaru!" Hokuto hissed in warning.

"What do you mean?" Amelia asked.

"Exorcism?" Lina perked up. "You talking about exorcism?"

"Well, yes," he blushed fiercely. "That's what…we do. The Sumeragi family…"

"Then maybe it's no accident you're going to Seyruun High!" Xelloss said, cryptically. This was unforeseen! He'd expected this girly wimp to be shaking in his shiny red boots—not competing with him for creepiness!

"Yes! We've got all sorts of ghosts!" Amelia quavered. "Xelloss, tell him the one about Old Tim!" 

"Ah, yes…Old Tim…" Xelloss settled back into his mode of story telling. This story was a comfortable groove for him, and he hammed it up but good, sending Hokuto into a shriek at the end, but eliciting nothing but another strange statement from Subaru about how the bell tower should be purified. This annoyed him, so when Amelia said "Remember the time we thought we SAW Old Tim but it was really—I mean…" he was ready to turn that into a story as well. "But it was really something much worse," he said, looking into the fire so that the dancing flames reflected off his glasses eerily. 

"Do I want to hear this?" Hokuto asked Amelia tremulously.

"If you want to know more about Mr. Xelloss…" Amelia answered cautiously.

"It was a dark and stormy night…" Val intoned darkly.

"Va-al!" Lina warned.

"Well, it was…"

"We were strolling by our high school one night after a long day…" Xelloss began.

"When Miss Sylphiel, ah…another…friend, kinda…" Amelia stammered. "She pointed out this, this…"

"Shadow…" Xelloss continued. "A figure… darker than the shadows cast by the moonlight through the tower windows as the clouds flew past…"

"See, what did I tell ya…daaark AND stormy AND night…" Val smirked, then returned to his poem.

"A shadow appeared in the tower opening. A voice shrieked in terror, Amelia cringed and fell, spraining her ankle and obliging my…friend, Zelgadiss here, to half carry her, while I carried her the other half of the way back to my…lair…um…"

Amelia blurted out, "It was our band's practice room until it got burned down last month by ...some very bad people!" She blushed at her near-mistake.

"Just…" Xelloss's eyes flickered a signal to Amelia before he went on with his tale, "…as we got settled in, **the storm hit**…"

"What did **I say**? Gotta _storm_ now, too!" Val hollered. He thought he was funny anyway and laughed himself to the coughing stage. Lina got in a 'hit' this time, connecting her elbow between a couple of his ribs.

"The lights went out!" Xelloss slapped his hands together loudly. "No light, no, heat, no cellphones…"

"And a room full of horny teenagers!" Val hooted and rolled out of the way of Lina's fist.

"Sounds…interesting…" Hokuto smiled tentatively.

"More so in the telling than if you'd been there," Zel muttered.

"That's because you slept through all the fun parts!" Xelloss quipped. "Right, Amelia? I mean, that's what you were checking every few minutes…when you leaned in close and stared…"

Amelia looked into Xelloss' eyes, really terrified this time.

Once Zel's icy blues settled on him, Xelloss smiled, "Just kidding, of course. Amelia's ankle was all swollen and she couldn't budge an inch, which…made the situation all that much worse when there was a heavy knock on the door. Had the shadowy figure from the tower seen us? Followed us to our hideout? With nothing but the twenty-five cent lock on the door to separate us from tragedy…"

"So…who was it? The man in the tower? He didn't kill you, 'cause you're all here except for….that one Sylf-girl. Oh! No! She was killed?!?" Hokuto practically wailed.

Xelloss smiled, "No (such luck…). She's just fine. As it turned out the figure was a man and he eventually did track us down, Zelgadiss and I in particular. He had been my…stepfather, my second one. A child abuser and…he wanted to make one last memorable…"

"Xelloss," Zel said.

"Impression," Xelloss finished. "He captured Zelgadiss and me and locked us up in that tower and…Gourry and Lina led a posse to save us and here we are."

"Thanks to your old wolf-dog, and after a few weeks stay in the hospital…Which reminds me," Lina kicked at Zel's elbow. "Where is your dog?"

"Sleeping peacefully on MY bed. Keeping it warm and protecting it from intruders," Zel said.

Subaru looked up. "You have a dog?"

"No, we have a vicious, feral wolf who like to gnaw the faces off of delicate young—"

"We have a sweet, mostly blind old dog who's a wonderful companion, even in its old age," Zel corrected Xelloss before he insulted two creatures who couldn't stand up for themselves. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing, sorry to interrupt, but I love dogs…all animals, really, but dogs especially. They're so human! I can recognize ones I'm friends with by their bark—like voices. When my dog died…" he shook his head. "Never mind. Sorry, I interrupted your story, and it is a very important one, I think." Then he looked deeply into Xelloss' eyes. "That man, he hurt you, didn't he?"

"Nearly killed him twice by my reckoning," Lina inserted. "But he's dead now. Xelloss' mother shot him." She yawned and stretched before adding, "That woman killed all the men in her life, the old spider." 

"Not quite, Lina," Xelloss smiled. "Rezo is still alive." He turned to Hokuto to explain, "He's letting us have these houses instead of some university chums. Oh, and he's Zelgadiss' father who married my mother, making him my third and last stepfather, and…then Val's his foster son!"

Hokuto was certainly disturbed. "I—I don't believe that!"

"But it's true!" Xelloss giggled. "Not only that…"

"Xelloss…"

"But Val's stepfather was my second stepfather and Zelgadiss' mother was my sister… Let's see…Zelgadiss' grandfather killed Lina's father and Sylphiel's real mother and father, Filia's relatives, somewhat removed, killed off Val's family, except for his mother whom…our shared stepfather most likely killed. And finally, some lunatic assassin blew up the helicopter my mother and real father were riding in…killing them both…_finally_! Gee, Amelia, you and Gourry are just so pure!"

"What a load of crap!" Hokuto grunted.

"Yeah, when you put it that way, 'I'm my own grandpa' sounds less ludicrous!" Lina sighed.

"I-I think that Mr. Xelloss is telling us the truth, H-Hokuto! A-aren't you?" Subaru looked at Xelloss with those big, emerald green eyes full of depth and sincerity. Then he looked down. "I'm so sorry that you've all been through such pain. I truly am. No one should have to be put through that sort of thing. When adults make evil choices, children shouldn't have to suffer… I'm sorry."

"Hey, it wasn't your fault! Don't worry about it, we're pretty much together, you know. Sometimes you just have to put the past behind you. Tomorrow is always there, undecided, ready to be discovered, and you can't just cling to all the bad things that have happened to you as an excuse for being to scared to face it!" Lina said. 

Subaru nodded. "But you can't ignore the past, either. Things happen for a reason, and past events cause future ones…" he swallowed. "So the future isn't as free as you say, I fear."

They thought about it for a moment.

"Oh!!! That's too deep for me right now!" Hokuto moaned. "Come on, let's have another story!"

"I'm sort of out…do you have one, Subaru?" Xelloss asked, looking at him slyly. 

"W-well, I, um…" Subaru deliberated for a moment.

"If he doesn't want to, don't force him—" Zel sighed, but before he could finish, Subaru began unexpectedly.

"Sakura is pink but it wasn't always so 

It used to be white, as white as the snow

But under every cherry tree

Lies a buried dead body 

The roots drunk up all the blood

The bodies turned all into mud

Now the petals are as pink

As the purest child's cheek."

Val looked up. Poetry…creepy poetry—too close to home. Everyone shivered and found themselves looking at Subaru with new eyes.

"Where'd you hear that?" Xelloss asked.

"I—I don't know, exactly," Subaru was blushing now, though he'd been pale and ghostly during the recitation. "Somebody told it to me once…under a cherry tree…

"It was spring, and I was visiting the Sakura Burial Mounds with my grandmother, receiving training, you see. And I…don't know what happened, but I was wandering around—sakura is so beautiful!—and I saw this person…" he closed his eyes. "I was seven. I don't really remember, but this seems somehow important. I can't let go of it, even though I don't really remember. I saw this person, a young man in a high school uniform. It was strange that anyone would be there, since it's private property, but I didn't think about that at the time. I asked what he was doing, and he said that poem, told me to remember… It's called 'The Sakura Murders,' I think. And then he said…" he stopped and swallowed. "He made a promise, but I can't quite remember…but I know that he said we'd meet again someday. And…I believe him. The future…isn't as undecided as you say…" he trailed off. 

While the others exclaimed about how ominous and creepy that was, Xelloss was thinking. The 'Sakura Burial Mounds,' eh? That seemed familiar… Something he wanted to forget…

__

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Sixteen. ~*~


	17. Chapter 17

****

The Slayers: **Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel**

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Seventeen 

Bedtime arrived at last with everyone settled in with reasonable comfort.

"Hey…yeah…I know it's late. Been busy here, ya know. Ah, nothin'…water, sun, couple weird kids, more than the usual… Why did I call? I, um, wrote a poem tonight. Yeah, felt good, too. Nah, too personal…sometime, maybe I'll read it to ya but not over the phone. What'sup with you? Oh, yeah? Little brat misses me? Oh, yeah…he's gonna be a lady killer someday. How do I know? Huh, I dunno…just guessin'. So…I guess I'll letcher go back to bed, then, and um…I…um…missyougoodnightbye," Val hung up his cellphone in a rush of words and near panic. "Shit, I just don't know when ta keep my mouth shut anymore," he grumbled. 

He opened his little notebook and reread his poem, scratched out the last line and made a few alterations, then satisfied, closed it, stuffed it into his shirt pocket and curled into his pillow to sleep.

Val's poem: Fire flames brilliant against the dark, damp sand at night,

But pale compared to my memories of your flashing smile.

The melody of your laughter, 

A flicker of danger in your eyes the moment before 

I have to catch myself from falling…

Too late, it seems, for me…

The fire dies to glowing embers here at my feet, 

While inside, it burns into my soul…anew…

my memories of you, 

Where they smolder…

Then, suddenly they ignite my heart 

again in your absence.

__

Lined out- I don't know how I feel sometimes…-… then added:

I am yours—

But you know that already and remain aloof 

so you won't get burned. 

~*~

Filia hung up the phone and sighed. How unexpected that was! Val never just called up to say…what was it he'd said anyway? It had made her feel all warm and happy inside. She was so glad her friends hadn't forgotten her. It was good to be home and all, but…she wished she could get out to the beach and join him, er, them all. Ah yes, warmth long-distance works just so far, and for just so long.

~*~

Things were great in the girls' cabin. There had been an excess of beds there anyway, so adding a boarder was no trouble at all. Hokuto had one of Lina's extra-large sleeping T-shirts (having opted out of Xelloss' black mesh band-wear), and looked very much like a black-haired, more pixie-like Lina. They were both straight-figured and slender with legs that were long compared to petite bodies, and mischievous expressions even when they weren't actually plotting anything. The three girls set up bedding and toiletries when they realized that Hokuto didn't have anything!

"Not even a toothbrush!" she moaned. Lina thought.

"Well, I guess we'll have to go to town and hope there's a 24-hour convenience store, huh?" she sighed.

"We don't have to walk, do we?" Amelia whined. Lina and Hokuto shared her sentiments.

"Don't suppose you've got a license…?" Lina hoped. 

Hokuto shook her head. "That's why Sei-chan drives us around all the time."

"Well, then. Guess we've got to go bug the boys," Lina said.

The boys were having problems of their own. Where the girls had two bedrooms, each with twin beds, and only three people to occupy them, the boys had the same arrangement—but with five people to cram in. 

Gourry and Val had positioned themselves in defensive positions in front of two beds in one room, leaving the other designated the 'geek room,' as they had previously decided. However, there was now one more geek to add—and Zel made a silent vow to himself NOT to share a bed with either of the demented young psychopaths. He had thought he was safe—the dog would fend off any invading alien—but he was wrong.

Subaru had seen the dog and immediately glomped onto it. The love at first sight was mutual, and Beast happily yipped and licked the boy's face, wagging his tail madly. It was the most excited Zel had seen him in ages. 

It was funny. Somehow, Zel had put the rather effeminate Subaru in the same category as Xelloss—finicky and hypersensitive. But he didn't seem to mind the unhygienic licks and drooling from the dog, nor its rancid breath. Dirty fur, doggy odor—none of it fazed him at all. That was something to his credit, at least.

In the meantime, while Zel was almost affectionately watching Subaru bond with his dog, Xelloss had claimed the other bed by lying spread-eagle on top of it and loudly declaring it his. Zel's spirits drooped. 

"Oh!" Subaru looked up from his mushy interactions with Beast. "This is your bed, isn't it? I'm terribly sorry. I just saw the dog and wanted to make friends. Here," he made to slide off the bed in a hurry. "It's yours again—"

"No, no, its okay," Zel sighed. He couldn't deprive him of a bed. The only other choice was the floor, and he couldn't let their guest be confined to the floor—what kind of host would he be then? Damn his bloody inconsiderate friends… "Just gimme one of those pillows…I'll shake down Gourry for a blanket. Thanks…"

"But…where are you going to sleep?" Subaru asked, shakily.

'Not with you!' was the thought that came to mind. "The floor, in the front room. I'll be fine. I slept outside a few days ago…or was that yesterday?" Zel sighed. He couldn't even remember! And what house was that at? Did he even have a house these days? A year ago, this wouldn't have been a problem, would it have? Too tired…

"B-but I don't want to be any trouble…"

'Well, can't help that now, can we?' Zel thought. Aloud, he said, "It's all right. I don't mind. Really." Just take my dog and my bed and my dignity…

So saying, Zel quietly closed the bedroom door and padded down the hall, into the darkened front room to find a flat spread of floor to sleep on.

The door was open. A breeze was issuing from the blackness outside. And there was a shadowy figure standing in the doorway!!

"Gaaaaaaaa!"

"Gaaaaaaaa!"

After a moment of screaming, Zel recognized the voice as Lina's and leaned backwards, panting, and slammed his hand on the light switch.

"Damn it, Lina!" he moaned. "Don't just sneak in like a thief…"

"Well, who did you think it was?" she growled. "Old Tim? Dear gods, Zel…"

At this point, everyone else was filing in, carrying lamps and anything else that could pass as a weapon, ready to fend off whatever had made Zel scream. At the sight of Lina standing there, sloppy gray T-shirt and all, they relaxed. Behind her, Amelia and Hokuto emerged from outside of the doorway, looking embarrassed. They let Lina do the talking.

"Well, guys, I was about to try and bum a ride off of somebody with a license to go into town, but you all seem pretty psycho right now, and I'm not sure I'd trust you at the wheel," she appraised them.

"Even if that wasn't rude, I still wouldn't do it," Zel snorted. "If you want a midnight snack, you should learn to bring your own-"

"Don't jump to conclusions!" Lina growled. "And beside, it's nowhere near midnight yet. No, the twins don't have toothbrushes or nothin', so we were gonna see if there was a convenience store open or something…"

"Oh, well…"

"I'm not doing it," Xelloss declared. "I can't see very well with my glasses at night in the glare…"

"Not that we'd trust you driving at night anyway," Val grunted.

"That sounded like volunteering!" Lina looked at Val like he was a hamburger. 

"Nuh-uh, Lina. My shoulder's dead and getting deader…remember all those friggin injuries I got? Well, your wrasslin' match didn't help them none," he winced.

"Sorry…" she admitted. "Gourry?"

"Yeah," Val said. "Gourry can go, and Zel can steal his bed!"

Gourry shook his head violently.

"Wait a minute here," Lina said. They did. "You're short a bed?"

"Y-yes," Subaru said. "It's my fault. I'm so sorry. It was rude for us to impose on you—"

"Naw, don't worry about it. So Zel the martyr let you have his bed, huh? Geez, guys, why don't you just share?"

The look Zel gave her made her raise her eyebrows in false shock. 

"Where are you sleeping, then, Zel?" Lina wondered, vaguely.

"You're standing on it," Zel said, and dropped the bedding he'd been carrying on the floor.

"We have an extra bed," Hokuto said. "Subaru can share a room with me, just like we used to back at Grandma's—"

Zel couldn't help but notice that Subaru looked pretty crest-fallen at that idea, though he tried to cover it up. "Oh, no…don't—" he tried to stop her, but Xelloss interrupted.

"No, let him stay here with us. I'll bet he's never just hung out with 'the guys', before." Xelloss insisted.

Lina sighed loudly. "Okay, fine. Here's the deal: if Zel hauls us to the store, we'll haul the bed stuff from our spare into the living room for Zel to sleep on. Sound good?"

"Yes…" Zel sighed, and went to get his keys.

It was agreed that Hokuto could choose her brother's toothbrush and other personal items so that he could stay at the house and share a male bonding experience with the three other kids. Zel refused to 'go shopping', preferring to remain in the car. 

"Just don't take all night, all right?" 

"Hey, we're not here 'cause we want to be," Lina assured him, and departed with Hokuto and Amelia.

Back at the ranch, the boys, having realized there would be too much commotion soon to go to bed right then, were sitting around the living room, on chairs or the floor, staring at the walls.

Finally, Xelloss couldn't take the quiet any more. "Wasn't today fun?" he sighed. "We did so much crazy stuff…"

"My beautiful building…" Gourry lamented.

"My aching shoulder! Man, Lina's a wild animal, you know?" Val rubbed his injury.

"And that's why we love her, right?" Xelloss grinned. "Because she's tougher than any of us, and she knows it."

"I dunno about that," Gourry started.

"Yeah, Xelloss," Val said, looking surprised. "You're still here, after all the unholy shit life's slung at you."

"Why, Val, that was almost poetic!" Xelloss giggled. "Yes, I'm still here. But I'm not stronger than Lina. Remember, I did crack up before. I spent middle school in the nuthouse," he said, and looked at Subaru for a moment, a challenge to him, he thought. See if you can top that, spirit-boy!

"Yes…" Subaru looked at him. "You've been in too much pain. For a while, you had to escape it somehow… I think it was the right choice-–not that I should have an opinion, but…" He swallowed. "I've seen it before…I've seen people never recover, become demons, almost. But you," he smiled warmly at him, if a little shakily, "you're still human."

"…let's see...toothbrushes, right here," Amelia found the appropriate rack and led the two other girls to it.

"Righty-o…here we go, red and blue, small ones. We both have such little jaws! We had to wear intense braces when we were preteens, because our teeth were too crowded." Hokuto shared.

"Me, too!" Amelia said. "It was just awful, wasn't it!"

"I have perfect teeth!" Lina grinned to show them off, "and I'll never need to mess with 'em again, since I got my wisdom teeth out in freshman year."

"Lucky! But you're small, like me! How come you get perfect teeth?" Hokuto complained.

"Because she has such a big mouth!" Amelia said.

Lina threatened her with a tube of toothpaste.

"Oh, right, guess we need one of those, too!" Hokuto picked one out.

"Now," Lina grinned, "time for snacks!"

"Oh, they even have little bags of flour and sugar and stuff!" Hokuto noticed. "I should make something for you guys to repay your kindness! Zel has been so sweet."

"I'm not one to turn down food," Lina shrugged. "Whatever you wanna do's fine. I'm going for fruit pies, myself!"

"Oh, Lina! Those are terrible for you!" Amelia warned.

"Maybe for you!" Lina laughed. "But I'm the mighty Lina Inverse, and even goddesses envy my beauty, brains, voice, and metabolism! I can eat anything."

"Not fair!" Hokuto whined. "I have to watch what I eat and count calories and diet and everything to maintain my figure!"

"What about your brother? His looks about the same," Lina snorted.

Hokuto frowned. "He doesn't take very good care of himself. He doesn't eat or sleep enough, and he works way too much. I'm surprised he hasn't just keeled over from exhaustion already! I'm surprised he hasn't gone gray with stress!" she ranted.

"Isn't he too young to work?" Amelia asked.

"Probably, but it's all shrine stuff, so it's exempt. Well, that and practicing with the band. And they're all nice people, but its still stress he doesn't need!" she sighed. "I worry about him sooo much! I mean, there's only so much I can do for him, and he's so stubborn!"

"Stubborn?" Amelia asked. "I didn't see that in him at all." 

"He's the worst! He doesn't listen to anything I tell him—especially not when it's for his own good. And he won't admit that he's special! There's no one in the country who can do some of the things he can, but he insists that he's just an ordinary spiritualist! As if there's such a thing as an ordinary spiritualist!"

"He's just very shy. He isn't as social as you are," Amelia pointed out. "I have a friend like that…"

"You mean elfy, out in the car?" Hokuto giggled. "But my Subaru's worse than that. I mean, he can talk to complete strangers when its work, but the only people he talks to of his own free will are Grandmother, me, and Seishirou, and even then, only when Seishirou talks first! He's a recluse!"

They bought their supplies and returned to the car.

"Lina--!!"

"Oh, come on!" Lina said, munching on a greasy, fruit-filled treat. "You think I was gonna go on this trip fer nothing!"

Zel sighed. But with Lina's mouth full, he might be able to have a conversation… "Hokuto, about your brother…"

Xelloss looked darkly at his hands for a moment. Then he looked up at Subaru. "So, what's your story? Nothing we've said has surprised you, and you're sure a piece of work yourself. You're so polite your obsequious, and so shy you're like a shadow. You know about me—abused, used, been through death and pain—what's up with you?"

"I-I don't know what you mean—"

Gourry stood up. "Xelloss, that was—"

"You gay?" 

All eyes were on Val. 

"I mean, it's not like I'm a-cyuse-ing you of a crime or nothin'," Val clarified. "But…"

They looked back at Subaru. He was very red, and almost shaking, looking down at his gloved hands. "N-no…nothing like that."

"Pretty much," Hokuto said. "I mean, it's just so cute how he pines away after Sei-chan! He's way too shy to really do anything about it, though, so it hardly counts." 

"I…I don't really think about…that kind of stuff…" Subaru stuttered.

"Then that's yer problem," Val threw up his hands.

"Val!" Gourry warned him. "You guys are…really going low. If he doesn't wanna talk about stuff, it's not fair to make him. You said stuff 'cause you wanted to—he doesn't owe you anything."

Subaru looked at him. "It's okay. Thank you for defending me…you're good at that. But don't cause a rift between you and your friends on my account. I'm…I'm sorry. In a way, I feel like I do owe you something, a story to satisfy your curiosity or make you feel better about yourselves or something. But I don't really have one."

Xelloss sighed. "Look, I'm sorry…I didn't mean it all like that. I…actually kinda do want to know what's up with you—and I don't need to feel better about myself," he added, bitterly. He had a sudden thought and smiled evilly, "Besides…It's usually me that gets asked that question. Feelings are complicated. Not too long ago I was called 'gorgeous' by a guy. It was most surprising at the time, considering the source…" 

Did Val remember? Yes, Xelloss noted with satisfaction. He may have been delirious with a fever and drugged, but he remembered. Val glared, but said nothing.

Subaru blushed again. "O-occupational hazard, if you're a rock star?" he offered them a solution. 

Xelloss actually laughed. "There we go!"

"B-but I'm…I'm really just…just…"

"It's okay. We can drop it for now. Why don't you tell us…"

"My parents died when we were little. My grandmother raised us—and raised me to take over for her as the priest head of the family. I guess it's supposed to be an honor, but it's really not that big of a deal. But I've…had to see a lot of bad things because of that position…" he looked distant. "Not to complain."

"Bad things?" Xelloss wondered.

"Yes…help people pass on. Help people…find peace in their last days, while they may not be in the best…state of mind. And to comfort people who have lost so much more than kind words can ever cover…" he swallowed again. "And…there are other things. But I…I still have my sister, and my grandmother is in good health. And there's Seishirou. He's very supportive."

"He called himself a 'long-term part of the family,'" Val noted. "What does that mean?"

"We've really only known him for a while, since the bands formed. You see, the lead singers for the two bands are buddies, so we see each other a lot, and Seishirou found out that Subaru was a priest like him, and we talked a bunch and became friends!" Hokuto explained. "He's sooo cool! And he's been helping us out a whole bunch." 

Subaru blushed. "Oh…He's going to be watching out for us a lot here. He helped arrange for us to go to school here and found us a place to live and all."

"So you're not living with him?" Gourry wondered.

"N-no… just Hokuto and I live together. We have a nice apartment…it won't be any trouble to take care of."

Val shook his head. Xelloss raised an eyebrow. "You're living alone, working at the shrine, and going to school for the first time? That's a lot of changes."

"It's not so much. We'll be fine."

"'We'. How about you?" Xelloss looked at him pointedly.

"W-what do you mean?"

"You and your sister are different people," Gourry pointed out. 

"Y-yes, we certainly are," he smiled a little. "She's very wild, and very strong—like your Lina." 

"Yeah, and I bet everyone in her band is secretly in love with her, too!" Xelloss remarked. Oopsie! Too many comparisons going here…

Subaru blushed and smiled, "She's not in a band. Seishirou is. She just supports us both, though she does have a few admirers…"

"What about you? You got anybody hounding you?" Val laughed.

"Actually," Hokuto smiled at Zel in the rear-view mirror, "I think that Sei-chan likes him, too! He's so sweet to him."

"But—don't YOU like Seishirou?" Amelia gasped.

"Huh? Well, of course! I love them both! But that doesn't mean I wanna marry them!" she laughed. "However…" her emerald eyes went a little dark, "if he ever makes Subaru sad, I'll…" 

"N-no! Nobody," Subaru exclaimed.

"Suuure," Val grinned. "That's what Zel would say, but he's got squads of squealing fans."

"Occupational hazard," Subaru said again, with a slight smile. "But there are a lot of people in my band, and I don't stand out so much—"

Xelloss cracked up. The thought of this kid not sticking out like a sore thumb was unbelievable, even to the unusual Xelloss himself! 

Around then, the car pulled up and Zel and the girls trundled over to the girl's house to struggle with the bed. Zel agreed that if the mattress made it over, he'd be perfectly happy. He took one end, Lina the other, and Hokuto the middle. Amelia tottered along with a bundle of sheets, blankets and pillows. To anyone happening by, this would have been an awfully funny sight at nearly midnight. Zelgadiss, party animal…

Bang, Bang!

"Open up you cretins!" Lina yelled at the closed and locked door to Zel's place, then set down her end of the mattress. "What'sa matter with ya? Scared the bogeyman's gonna getcher?"

Gourry opened the door, "Um…I didn't know it was locked…"

"I probably locked it out of habit on my way out," Zel sighed. "Um…this is getting heavy…" Zel meant for Gourry to move away from the door, but instead, Gourry grabbed hold of the mattress and carried it effortlessly over to an open spot on the floor away from the traffic. "This okay fer ya?"

"Yes," Zel nodded feeling approximately twelve years old.

"I'll get it all made up in no time!" Amelia cheerfully said.

Zel was about to stop her. He wasn't helpless! But he was just too tired to fight. "Thank you," he mumbled.

Hokuto cupped her hand to her mouth and leaned into Lina, asking, "The minions?"

"On rare occasions I lend them out," Lina smirked. "Normally they just do my bidding." She looked around at her friends and smiled. "Now everyone go away and give him some space. Zel needs his rest so he can cook breakfast in the morning, right kiddo?"

Zel sighed, "Of course, Lina…"

Lina tossed Hokuto a smile 'Mine'!

"That goes for you, too, Subaru!" Hokuto said.

"Y-yes! Of course! G-Good-night!" the nervous boy stuttered and scrambled off of the floor and out of the room.

Hokuto returned Lina's smile "Mine'!

~*~

Zel sighed and found a pair of sweats that he'd packed for the next night's wear. Oh, well, it wasn't as if he was taking anyone to bed with him—no one would ever know or care if he wore the same clothes to bed twice in a row. He picked them up and stumbled into the other room.

"Here," he tossed them to Subaru, who'd been patiently waiting in his ridiculous black jumpsuit, petting the grateful Beast.

"Th-thanks! I'm so sorry to be a burden on you like this…"

"Don't worry. We're teenagers. We're always a burden on somebody. That's what being a kid's all about."

Subaru smiled. "Where'd you hear that?'

"Lina, probably. That's the kinda thing she'd tell me. It's true, though, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, but…" Subaru looked distant. "But you all…you're all pretty self-sufficient. You have money and talents that don't require an adult around to lead you through everything. And me and Hokuto…we live alone, working, too."

"Not exactly. I mean, we don't need adults for money, true," Zel said, "but we need them for other things. Emotional support. To learn from—examples, you know? We have Gourry's parents and Filia's, and Rezo…to look up to. Like you have Seishirou."

"I guess you're right. Funny, I don't really think of Seishirou as being an adult—at least, no more so than we are. I guess it comes of being around all adults, all the time."

"Yeah. I know. I hung around at the University too much last summer…forgot how to talk to kids. Oh, well."

Xelloss emerged from the bathroom, leaving it vacant for Subaru.

"Hey, don't forget your toothbrush."

"Oh, yes! Thanks!" he smiled and disappeared into the bathroom.

Beast whined when his nice new boy left, but he picked up Zel's scent immediately and happily followed him back to his make-shift bed in the living room.

"Oh, good. You're taking THE DOG with you. I was afraid that I'd have to sleep in a room with both the puppy and THE DOG."

"Oh, go to hell, Xelloss. And be nice to that kid. He's like you, but without the annoying habits—and Beast's better then both of you—he doesn't talk. 

"Glad to know I haven't been replaced in your doggy heart, Beast," Zel smiled and ruffled his ears. "Good night, boy."

"Hey, you said good-night to THE DOG before me!" Xelloss whined.

"Damn straight. Good night, Xelloss."

"Good night, Zelgadiss."

~*~

Waking up to the smell of frying bacon and cinnamon rolls was…not like anything he'd ever experienced before! Xelloss sat up with a start. Where was he? For a few minutes he just sat and stared. Across from him was another bed, occupied. There wasn't another bed in his loft, or the inside room, or the one at Rezo's… And who was that? Only Zelgadiss had ever shared a room with him…and that delicate boy with black hair wasn't Zelgadiss, even if he was wearing his clothes! This wasn't his place, and that wasn't his best friend!

"M-Mr. Xelloss? Is something the matter?" the not-Zel kid stuttered with alarm, blinking his emerald-green eyes groggily and rubbing them with gloved fingers. 

"Huh?" Who the hell are you? OH… Xelloss smiled with enlightenment as it all rushed back. "I forgot where I was. I woke up and had no idea where I was. Soooooo weird. Guess it's because we've been transplanted so many times the past few months. But my stomach says 'home is where the food is'!" He rolled onto his back and giggled at his own joke.

Subaru smiled, too. "Someone's been up awhile already."

Xelloss caught his breath and sat up again. He yanked on a long-sleeved sweatshirt over his t-shirt and stepped into a pair of sweatpants. Dressed, Zel-style, he bounded out of the room chortling, "Zellll-gaaaa-diiiiiiiss!"

Zel looked up from the layers of eggs and buttered white bread and greeted his best friend. "Get out. Scoot, go!"

Xelloss smiled, ignored him, and dipped his finger into the egg mixture, "What's this?"

"Strata. It has to bake yet," Zel snapped. He snatched a piece of bacon out of Xelloss' hand. "Put that down, too!"

"Coffee? Ewwww… Is there any juice?" Xelloss whined.

"Did you buy any?" Zel retorted. "You have two useless hands, you open the refrigerator and look! I'm busy."

"Bitchy Zelgadiss," Xelloss sniggered. "Ouch!" He looked around to see what Zel had thrown at him. "You hit me with an apple!"

"Yeah, what a waste of a good apple," Zel sighed. "Listen, if you're determined to mess about in the kitchen, peel these for me."

Xelloss perched himself on the table and picked up an apple and a knife. "Zelgadiss?"

"Xel-loss?"

"Nothing…"

Zel shoved the strata into the oven and started a pastry dough. Now what was on his friend's mind?

"Good. I'm too busy to debate or tackle any major problems right now," Zel said.

"Oh…"

Zel finished the dough and measured sugar and cinnamon into a large bowl, "You have those apples peeled yet?"

"O-one," Xelloss sang, turning the one syllable word into two.

Zel sighed, "It will take all day at that rate." He picked up another knife and began paring an apple. "You're thinking. I can hear the sound of little hamsters running on a wheel inside your scull."

"Ewwwww!" Xelloss made a face and jumped up. "Mice!"

Sure enough, a mouse skittered across the floor away from the oven, dipping into a crevice under the sink.

"Mouse," Zel corrected him. "Only one. I heard it scampering around all night. I got up and jammed everything remotely edible onto the table or in the refrigerator or we'd have nothing edible to eat this morning. What's your problem? I've seen you handling lab rats before."

But instead of answering, Xelloss simply shrugged and started another apple. "What's this for?"

"Apple cobbler."

"We should have ice cream to go on it," Xelloss announced. "I'll go get some!"

"Be my guest…" Zel said, a little rankled. Xelloss was entering his annoying goofy persona, one Zel in particular had not missed recently. It was a signal that all was not well in Xelloss-land.

"Can I have the keys to the car?" Xelloss said in a simpering tone of voice.

Zel glared at him a second, "By the door on your way out. Do you know where the market is?"

"Nope!" Xelloss smiled sweetly. "But if you found it in the dark last night, I'm sure I'll have no problem finding it on my own." He danced to the door, found the keys, and skipped out to the car.

"Subaru!" Zel called from the kitchen.

"Y-yes?" the kid crept into the room and looked around.

"There's a knife. I need all the apples peeled," Zel said in his no-nonsense way.

"Oh, y-yes! I-I can do that! Hokuto has me help her in the kitchen many times. Oh, look at the cute face someone carved in this apple!" Subaru turned the first one Xelloss had peeled, face-forward to Zel.

Zel looked up briefly. "Cute. Now, see if you can finish the last two while I start slicing these others. Lina will be up pretty soon and everything should be ready."

"I see, then I'd better hurry up, right?"

"Right." 

Subaru focused all of his will and energy on peeling those apples. Zel sneaked a peak over his shoulder, only to see him working intently on one, carefully sliding the knife around the apple so that he completely stripped it of skin. It would have taken half the time for Zel to do them himself, but the poor kid was so proud of having helped that Zel hadn't the heart to discourage him. Something about Subaru always sapped him of his cynical strength, as if the boy's seriousness and sensitivity were just too pure to be touched by his own bitter sarcasm. Zel sighed. The worst thing was that he'd probably be stuck shepherding this kid around all year like a poor lost lamb, making sure no big, bad bullies ate him… 

"A-are these all right?" he asked, timidly.

"Perfect. Thanks. Okay, now can you slice them like these?"

"Sure! Where's a cutting board—okay, we'll switch places. Thank you!"

Zel tossed the apple slices with the sugar and while they were 'juicing up', rolled out the pastry to fit the cake pan. "Um, open the oven and see if the…USE THE MITT!" Idiot…he muttered under his breath. "Is the strata browned on top?"

"Yes! Shall I take it out, Mr. Zelgadiss?"

"Sure, and put it on the counter. Oh, and…just call me Zel, all right? Amelia already bugs me with the 'Mr.' crap and Xelloss…well, there just no end to his vexatious conduct." Zel lined the cake pan with half the pastry, poured the apple slices in the center, then spread them out and topped it off with the other sheet of pastry. "All right. This goes in while I check the sausages over here…" he said more to himself than to the other boy.

"S-Someone must have told you about H-Hokuto's appetite…Z-Zel."

Zel shoved the links around on the pan and looked over at the wide-eyed smiling face. "Ah, no. Does she like to eat, too? I wasn't paying attention around the campfire."

"That's right, you were having some time alone after Miss Lina took your food.Well, Hokuto loves to eat. I think half our money goes into our food budget!" Subaru revealed.

"Wonderful. Then I guess Lina, Gourry, Val, Amelia and Hokuto can fight it out for supremacy over breakfast." He looked over at the bright green eyes scanning the different dishes. "Why don't you and I have ours now, while its quiet?"

Scandalized by the notion of eating before his sister, Subaru started stuttering madly, "I-I-I d-don't know…" But when he saw Zel help himself to a small plateful, he demurred, "W-well, I guess a little wouldn't hurt…"

Zel smiled, "Well, it _could_ if Lina found out… No, I was just joking, Subaru. She's not up yet. I can hear her from here when she starts up." He pointed to his unusual ear, "Mutant hearing."

"That must come in handy sometimes," Subaru smiled back. "Oh, this is good, mmmm…Zel."

"There's some platters in one of the cabinets," Zel said. Lina was up so it was time to get the food out on the table. "Not…" His voice was drowned out by the cacophony of falling baking pans from atop the refrigerator.

"Sorry!" Subaru wailed over the din.

That woke up Val and Gourry. Gourry stumbled out to see what catastrophe had occurred. Val, however, came out spouting a string of explicatives at whomever it was created the noise that WOKE HIM UP!

Subaru blushed to his roots. Zel folded his arms over his chest and scowled. "Val, that's not necessary. A couple baking pans fell, that's all. It's time to get up anyway. Lina's on her way over any minute now, and Subaru here tells me that his sister is a glutton as well, so if you want to eat, shut up and get dressed." 

Val blinked. Zel rarely strung together that much information at one time and loaded it on him first thing in the morning. "Lina, huh? Oh, shit…"

Gourry, having satisfied himself early on that all was well, had beat Val into the bathroom, leading to another round of cursing by Val.

Zel sighed. "Val grew up with one of the offensive stepfathers possible. His shoulder was dislocated and a couple ribs broken in aaaaa rock climbing accident a week ago so he's probably hurting from that too."

Subaru nodded, then brightened up, "Mr. Val? I have something that can help you!"

Val stopped in his tracks, "Huh?" Oh, the kid…

"I-I have some aspirin S-Seishirou p-packed for me. See? A little emergency supply. I'll get you some water, if you would wait right there."

Zel hid a smile. Val's expression was somewhere between astonishment and horror. He was frozen in his tracks as the boy passed him a glass of water with one trembling hand and a pair of pills in his other outstretched hand.

"Uh, thanks, kid," Val muttered, taking the offerings. He swallowed the pills and all eight ounces of water in three gulps. "I shouldn'ta got in that fight with Lina. All my ribs are burnin' again."

Subaru blushed, "Y-you are welc-come."

Val chuckled and mussed the shorter kids hair, "Yer all right! Here, give this to Zel to wash up fer me, 'kay?"

"Wash your own glass!" Zel yelled. "Asshole!" he added as Val's laughter shook the hall.

The girls arrived and the noise level increased by tens of decibels.

"This is sooooo good! You did this all by yourself?" Hokuto gushed. 

"I had help…Subaru here…" Zel began.

"Did you help?" Hokuto interrupted. "He helps me at home, too! This stuff is terrific! What did you call it? STRA-ta? I'd like to make this sometime."

"I'll send you the recipe," Zel said and sipped his coffee in a leisurely manner.

"Aren't you going to eat, Zelgadiss?" Amelia asked, again dropping the 'Mr.' honorific. 

"I'm fine, Amelia."

"Where's Xelloss?" Gourry asked before gobbling up a pair of bacon strips sandwiched between hunks of cinnamon roll.

Lina looked up, surfacing for the first time since settling in at the table. "Oh yeah…he's not here," she remarked unconcernedly.

"He's out shopping for ice cream," Zel said.

Val's eyes shot up. He chewed and swallowed. "You let Xelloss take my car?"

"Well, I wasn't about to stop him. I was preparing breakfast and had my hands full. Besides, he drives safely."

"He know where he's goin'?" Val asked.

"Does he ever?" Lina quipped.

Ignoring her, Val asked a different question, "How long's he been gone?"

Bang!

Right on cue, Xelloss shoved the door open his shoulder, both arms loaded with sacks. "Hel-l—ooooo!" he sang.

"Not long enough," Zel muttered under his breath. "If you really bought ice cream, it's probably all melted by now!" he said to Xelloss standing beside him.

"Oh…that's right! I forgot that! We-ell, it's not really breakfast food anyway. What **were** you thinking, Zelgadiss!" he smiled.

"Me?! _I_ didn't tell you to go out for ice cream!" Zel said. He was getting all defensive now!

"No? Well, don't get all snippy with me, Zel-gaaa-diss. Look at all the cool stuff I got, though!" Xelloss smiled down at Zel who was glaring back up at him.

"I'm not interested. Go bother someone else."

Subaru sensed an undercurrent of unrest. "I-I'm curious. Can I see what you got?"

Xelloss bent down and whispered in Zel's ear, "You're no fun today. I guess it's gonna be me and your little puppy, bitchy boy." 

Zel lashed out with one arm, but Xelloss avoided the fist, and giggling, settled over beside Subaru. He set down the bags on the floor and started pulling things out for show-and-tell time.

"First…new swimwear!" Xelloss snickered. He withdrew a skimpy bit of men's swimwear for competitive racing.

"Speedos?" Lina choked. "Gods, Xelloss not while I'm eating!"

"There's not much to those, Mr. Xelloss," Amelia said, blushing.

"More than what we were wearing in the water yesterday, right Zelly?" Xelloss grinned.

Zel blushed and cleared his throat. "Drop it, Xelloss."

Xelloss dropped the swimwear onto the table.

"Ahhhhh!" screamed a chorus of voices. Someone flung the garment away with a fork, sending it flying into Lina's hair.

"Nice hat!" Hokuto laughed.

Lina felt the heat rising to her face. Xelloss noticed the danger signs and moved quickly to make amends.

"That…wasn't my fault!" Xelloss said. He swiped the suit and stuffed it back into his bag.

"What else did you get?" Hokuto asked. This was fun!

"Don't encourage him…." Zel muttered.

"Shampoo…Mine got used up…suspiciously…"

"I didn't see no names on it!" Val grumbled.

"I thought it smelled familiar," Amelia said. "I just love the scent of lavender. I hope to visit Kiki someday and walk through the lavender fields of Provence with her. Did you know that her family owns thousands of acres of old vineyards? Her mother and father teach in universities—I'm not sure what…history or something—but she's heir to all of it! Isn't that something? All that time she was here and she never said a thing to me about it, but we've been e-mailing each other back and forth and she's been telling me all kinds of things. You should try and send her a message, too, Mr. Xelloss. She's always asking about you…"

Xelloss' smiled faded temporarily, "I don't have a computer, Amelia, anymore. But if you give me her address, I can use the one back at the shrine."

"Shrine?" Hokuto asked warily, looking back and forth from Xelloss to Subaru.

Amelia, feeling bad for reminding Xelloss of his losses, supplied the information for him. He seemed to have clamed up. "Mr. Xelloss is a priest in the largest White Shrine in Seyruun. He's their computer expert."

"Priest? You don't seem…the type," Hokuto said.

"Really? Am I too…devious and evil?" he smiled villainously.

"Naw, funny! You don't seem to be the serious type," Hokuto laughed.

"I can be," he smiled. "And…right now I'm seriously in need of a dance!" He swept Hokuto out of her chair and waltzed around the house, her squeals and peals of laughter filling the rooms.

Minutes later he raced her back to the table, where he dove into her empty seat, "Mine! Pass me a plate, would you Subaru? Amelia, is there still a sausage?" he smiled her way.

"If you pass me that plate, Subaru," Amelia said. "I'll fill it for him." 

It was the just thing to do, considering how she'd managed to bring up Kiki, his lost computer, and the shrine (Sylphiel, oh no…) in one blow. So for the duration of the meal, Amelia catered to his every eating whim, much to his satisfaction. She was a wee bit too goody-goody for his tastes, but she was a girl, cute, well-endowed, smart, and present, especially present. Not to mention Zelgadiss was watching him like a hawk, perched on his chair and peering over his coffee cup.

Teasing Zelgadiss. He could make a profession of it! Xelloss engaged Amelia in a deep conversation of interest to her. Her eyes sparkled. She was proud to have everyone's undivided attention for a change. Not everyone was interested in knowing the ins and outs of Seyruun politics, but there she was, the center of attention. Xelloss fed her cues masterfully controlling the entire discussion.

"Wow!" Hokuto exclaimed. "You know everything! You've got to run for office, sometime! I'll be your…campaign manager or money raiser or anything, okay?"

Amelia beamed. "Well, I've got to grow up a bit more first. I won't be fifteen until December, but thank you." She turned toward Xelloss and smiled a special 'thank you, too' to him as well.

"Fifteen…" Val groaned. "I'm feelin' old…"

Gourry smiled, "Yeah…"

Amelia turned back to Hokuto. "Mr. Val, Mr. Gourry, and Mr. Xelloss are all over 18 and Zelgadiss turns 18 this November," she informed her. "Lina is 16 and Filia is turning 17 this month. Filia's the other band member who couldn't come to the beach with us."

"Well, everyone but Amelia and Lina has us beat!" Hokuto laughed. "We're sweet sixteen, like you, Lina," she winked.

"I always forget," Subaru sighed.

"Yeah, me, too. Everyone treats us like we're whatever age they are—whether that's fourteen or sixty-four!"

"High school's kinda like that," Lina put in, "unless you act really childish or really stuck up, in which case everyone will think you're a Frosh or a Senior, respectively. Hey, what grade are you entering at, anyway?"

"Junior, which is a little ahead of ourselves, but we tested really high. Betcha couldn't tell we're smart by looking at us!" Hokuto giggled.

"You should never judge people by appearances!" Amelia declared. "However, I must admit, I would have thought you would be a less academic type, Miss Hokuto."

"Oh, I am, but I'm just naturally smart, I guess."

"That makes two of us," Lina flipped her hair in a glamour-pose. "My school policy is to put the least amount of effort I can into everything and still ace it. Leaves me plenty of time to do the stuff I want to—like singing and writing. It pays to be a genius sometimes," she then burst out laughing.

"W-well, I'll have to study and work hard," Subaru said, shakily, "if I want to keep up."

"I can't get 'A's even when I DO study and work hard," Gourry groaned. "The stuff just doesn't stick, you know," he patted his head. "Names and dates and theories…I dunno how anybody can remember that junk!"

"I hear ya, man," Val high-fived him, massive hand against massive hand. "But, hey, you've gotta sweet business to inherit, and I've got money in the bank, so we're safe anyway."

"A business—would it be construction, by any chance?" Subaru wondered.

"Yeah, my dad owns Gabriev Construction and I'm apprenticing…"

"I can tell! You had an incredible structure going yesterday."

"Um, thanks…it coulda stood the test of time, if I'd gotten it done," Gourry answered.

Several guilty parties mumbled their 'sorry 'bout that's', then Xelloss jumped up, "I don't want to even think about school! Subaru, let's go check out your kelp shrine and see if it's still standing!"

"Oh!" he hopped to his feet then remembered he was only wearing sweats. "M-My clothes…"

Xelloss smiled a goofy smile, "Silly me, the other bag…" he dove into the other sack with a theatrical flourish, and pulled out some clothes. "Here, trunks and a t-shirt for the gentleman…and a bathing suit and t-shirt for the young lady…and sunscreen for both!"

Subaru turned crimson.

"Nice bathing suit," Hokuto giggled. "It's even the right size. How didya guess?"

"Hmmm, you look the same shape and size as Lina and…" Xelloss paused as one of Lina's evil-eye arrows pierced through to his brain. "The rest is a secret!" Wisely, he bounded out of range of Lina's fist aimed for his gut.

When he started rolling on the floor of the front room in a fit of giggles, Lina growled, "Quit geeking around, Xelloss, or else I'll have to tie you up and shove you in a closet somewhere!"

"Time to wash up and go outside for some fresh air!" Amelia declared. 

Hokuto demanded that Zelgadiss go walk his dog or something and take a break. He did. It wasn't his kitchen, after all, and Hokuto seemed both competent enough to handle the cleaning up job _and_ the recalcitrant help. Moreover, he really need time and space apart from Xelloss. Xelloss, what had happened to set him off? He'd been so normal of late. Zel was getting used to him that way. Well, he was bound to crack eventually, and Zelgadiss hoped that they could resolve the problem here and now with the large support group to stabilize him. Oh, joy…he sighed. "Beast? Stay at the house. I'm going to run faster than you can." 

The skinny kid did a couple stretches, patted the dog's head, and was about to take off for the hard sand and a long run when he noticed that all was not quite as well as he'd thought. 

Subaru still stood at the door, looking flushed and embarrassed about something. "Um—excuse me…?"

"What?"

"Am I…am I supposed to wear these? Will Xelloss be…very hurt if I…?"

'These' were the clothes Xelloss had picked up—swimwear, which did not seem very Subaru-friendly, despite even his strange tastes.

Zel sighed, and looked down at his dog's expectant face, then up at the boy's. "No, I don't think he'll be terribly put out…but then, he's been a little weird lately. Why don't you borrow something else of mine and…" Zel closed his eyes and tried to pretend it wasn't him saying it, "and we'll all go out shopping later, okay?"

"Shopping? Did I hear shopping?" Amelia somehow heard the fateful word from her former position in a far-off locale.

"Really? Where?" Hokuto popped up next to her like a mushroom, still holding soapy dishes.

Zel looked at his dog, took a deep breath, and set out on a demonic-powered sprint off towards the beach—as far away from them as possible.

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Seventeen. ~*~


	18. Chapter 18

****

The Slayers: **Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia**

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Eighteen 

Zelgadiss had hoped that by running far enough and fast enough, he'd miss the shopping experience, but he was wrong. Amelia held the trip up particularly for him. It had been his suggestion, after all!

"I have to shower," he said in passing to Lina. "Why don't you all just go on without me." He avoided Gourry, who was glowering, uncharacteristically, in his direction.

"We've waited this long for you. A few minutes longer's okay," Lina said. "Besides, I think Gourry wanted to talk to you in the car. He was wondering where'd you'd run to and was about to chase after you when Beast started howling."

Zel ducked into the bathroom with his duffel bag. He didn't linger more than five minutes, toweled off, then quickly yanked on some clothes. Gourry was waiting for him.

"Everyone's in the car, waitin'." Gourry blocked the path to the other rooms. There was no where to run but out the front door and into the car. He noticed that Zel was assessing his situation intently. "Yer comin', all right. I'm here to make sure ya don't try and sneak out."

Zel sighed and nodded, "I wouldn't do that. Sorry, about this. I really thought just the ones that needed clothes would have to go."

"Well, ah…Lina wants new stuff fer the band contest, now. And Xelloss agreed. Even Val didn't say no."

"Again," Zel said meaningfully to his friend. "I _am_ sorry. Ah…look on the bright side…" he waited until Gourry gave him a more hopeful look, "Lina tires of shopping shortly after her stomach growls 'feed me', which can't possibly be more than a couple hours away…tops."

Gourry smiled, "Yeah, too bad you couldn'ta run a bit farther, huh?"

There was the outlet mall up the coast a few miles and then there were the resale shops-- the best, Lina had heard. Val was in the driver's seat and so it was re-saling that they went.

"But Miss Lina," Amelia complained. "Not all the band is here to try on clothes!"

"I know what Filia can get into, if she hasn't grown," Lina replied.

"So…" Amelia started hesitantly, then lowered her voice to a whisper so that only Lina (and Zel, by mistake) could hear her. "…Miss Sylphiel is really out of the band permanently? Did you tell her that? Does Miss Filia know? What happens to her solo? Won't we need a replacement?" 

To the questions, Lina answered: yes, no, grunt, you can have it, grunt.

Amelia wasn't satisfied. "I'm not sure how I feel about seeing her again. Or what I'll say to her when I do when school starts. He's so…sweet and vulnerable and it was so…unjust! But, do you really think that hurting her this way makes up for what she did to Mr. Xelloss?"

Lina shrugged her shoulders, "Don't know, don't care. Yo! Val! Stop at this one!"

"Yeah, right. I'll stop right here in the middle of the street, that okay with ya? No? Well, how 'bout I keep goin', like I was doin', and find a parkin' place," Val spouted off. "Shit, when did I start takin' orders from girls, anyway?" he muttered.

Gourry, sitting in the passenger seat, overheard him and offered by way of a reply, "The day you noticed them, I figure." 

Val smacked at Gourry, who leaned away from his long reach. "Aaaahh…" Val chuckled. "That's _yer_ problem, Mr. Nice-guy Gabriev."

"Okay. Here we are, yer highness!" Val snapped as he shut down the engine and climbed out of the car. "I don't need nothin' so lead the way."

"Ooooo…I've never been in places with prices like theeeeese," Hokuto squealed with excitement.

Wide-eyed with concern, her twin brother reminded her, "H-Hokuto, we only have so much left to live on this month!"

To which Zel replied, "Don't worry about it. Xelloss, Val and I can cover it…consider it a bribe to your bands to stay out of the running."

"How kind you are!" Hokuto said, giving Zel a little peck on the cheek, causing him to blush furiously. "But we have plenty for a few clothes and you know I always look out for you, Subaru! I mean, we can't have you running around without any clothes to wear, can we?"

Subaru just sputtered nonsensically for a few seconds and gave up as everyone else entered the Lina-designated used clothing store.

Xelloss followed Lina into the store and wandered over to the men's hanging clothes. "Hey Lina! How about this idea for the band. We could shock everyone with these!" He held up a short-sleeved, button-down oxford-cloth shirt and a pair of plaid Bermuda shorts in one hand, and with the other, he jammed a floppy fishing hat over his head which pushed his long bangs completely over his eyes. "Cool, what?!"

Lina rolled her eyes, "Yeah, that would about do it. We could call ourselves the Nerd-Slayers, too!"

"How about we all wear clothes that match our eyes!" Amelia cried out. She had found a skimpy dress she believed would match her own bright blues.

Xelloss groaned, but Lina agreed to think about it. "But, Liiiiinnnnaaaa, " Xelloss now whined, holding his PURPLE eyes wide and rolling for her to see.

Gourry pawed through the t-shirts and asked Zel, "What color are my eyes. I never see 'em, ya know."

"Blue."

"Like yours and Amelia's, huh."

"No," Zel cast him a stern expression. "Mine are blue-green. Yours are sky-blue and Amelia's are gray-blue. All different."

Gourry looked stuptified. "Sky Blue?"

Zel sighed, "Here…like this shirt. Light and bright." His eyes met Gourry's and then he looked away embarrassed. "Go ask Lina…" he finally muttered and stole away behind a tall hanging rack of bathrobes.

Gourry smiled and pulled out the shirt. It was extra large, too. He scanned over the tops of everyone's' head until he spotted Lina squaring off against Val and Xelloss. "Hey, Lina! How's this one?"

"Huh?' she followed the sound of Gourry's voice and caught his head rising from out of the gloom. "Oh, that's pretty close, Gourry. See Val? Gourry can match colors, so you can, too!"

"Um…well…actually…Zel did it for me…" Gourry conceded. 

"Zel, huh? Get him over here to help Val, then. Where did he go?"

Lina couldn't see over or through anything, but Gourry noticed him over chatting with Subaru and pointed him out to Lina.

"Traitor," Val hissed at Gourry.

"I am NOT wearing purple!" Xelloss insisted. "You don't understand. I had that color shoved down my throat for most of my eighteen years by my mother. I most certainly won't start wearing it now that I have the freedom of choice."

Lina was returning with Zel in tow and Subaru quaking in his wake. Hokuto had armloads of clothes for her brother to try on, "Now where is he…Oh! Suuuuubaruuuuu!"

"R-Right here, H-Hokuto," he said forlornly looking at the numbers of items in her arms. "Y-You are n-not buying all of t-those, a-are you?"

"Maybe, but first you're going to go and try them on. Hurry up, over there's an open dressing room!" she smiled while stuffing the clothes into his arms.

As he carried the load in the direction she pointed, he sighed obediently, "Of c-course, H-Hokuto…" 

Val watched the tender scene and shook his head as Subaru passed him, "You are so whipped…"

"Val!" Lina yelled by his ear. "Get over here and let Zel show you how to find the color GOLD!"

Val nearly told them both where to go, but remembering that they would be sharing, or practically sharing in Lina's case, a roof over their heads, he decided that a good, hard glare would have to do instead.

"Yeah, he's a tough one," Hokuto chuckled to Amelia.

"But he writes poetry and plays piano and can be really sweet, too! When I see him holding little Quinny—that's Filia's baby brother—he looks so friendly and warm. Just don't get caught by his eyes, though. They're so dreamy…"

Hokuto smiled, "You're sure it's the skinny brooding guy you like best? Sounds to me like you could fall for the tall punk one as well."

This time it was Amelia's turn to blush. "Oh, no…my daddy wouldn't let me go out with someone like him, ever! Anyway, as much as I admire his good qualities, I could never fall for Mr. Val and I know he and Miss Filia make a great pair. When she sits at his piano and they sing together? They can't hide their feelings then." Amelia looked at Val and Zel standing side by side arguing over the latest orders from Lina.

"So…how did he get to look that way?" Hokuto asked.

"Well, the green hair's natural, but the piercings…" Amelia began to explain.

"No, silly, not him! Zelgadiss! With the weird hair and…all. I mean, no guy I've ever known would intentionally dye their hair lavender-gray!" Hokuto chuckled.

Amelia smiled, "No. What happened was…"she explained Zel's accident leading to his scars and other unusual features. "I hardly notice anymore. He's just…Zelgadiss, to me."

The moment Amelia said the word 'me', Lina hollered, "I HAVE IT!"

Gourry's breath caught in his throat. He was standing closest to her and her voice sent shivers up and down his spine-- that, and Lina was waving assorted shirts, vests and pants dangling from hangers. They all sported stripes. Gods-awful ones in all colors and widths.

Val halted mid-word, a 'gold' shirt in his hand. Zel turned slowly, folding his arms over his chest defensively. Amelia chirped, "What is it, Miss Lina?"

"S T R I P E S !" Lina shouted with glee, or devilish intent, depending upon whom you were.

"Oh…my…" Xelloss gasped, leaning on a counter of bad jewelry for support.

"Ah, shit!" Val growled.

"Oh, joy…" Zel moaned.

"Um, Lina?" Gourry began courageously. "Ya mean like clowns?"

Amelia giggled, "Oh, no! Miss Lina means for us to find clothes with stripes for our band outfits, right?"

"Yeah!" Lina answered. "There's lots of stuff with stripes, men's shirts especially. Look, ya wear a t-shirt with a loose striped thing over it…or …these…pants…" she practically drooled over an outrageous pair of black and white striped pants that might fit someone…"Oh, Ze-el?"

Hokuto, Subaru, and Amelia were standing closest to Zelgadiss when his face lost all its color. Amelia, recognizing the symptoms first, nudged Subaru, who caught the poor kid just as Zel's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed.

Now Gourry had just become accustomed to having to wear the sky-blue t-shirt, so finding that he was expected to just switch gears and start looking for stripes…stripes! Well, he dug in his heels and said, "No."

Lina turned her attention on Gourry, narrowing her eyes and aiming her fiery attack his way. "What?"

Xelloss was closest to Gourry, and although he had no reason to feel he needed to save the poor lug from his idiocy, he saw a way to get in on Lina's good side. "He was answering me," Xelloss smiled, "He's afraid that there won't be anything his size smaller than a tent. I'll go look with him, okay?"

Lina nearly returned his smile. "Yeah, you do that… Now, is Zel awake yet? Don't bother then. Just stack him up in the corner with the stuff we want to buy and we'll leave him to pay for it. Amelia? I think this jumpsuit is your size…"

Val shook his head and loped off in the direction Xelloss had taken Gourry. Hokuto left her brother to drag Zel out of the way, while she continued bargain hunting on her own.

Zel's eyes fluttered open to see a pretty pair of green eyes looking concernedly down at him. "Gahhh!" Zel gasped when he realized that the lovely eyes belonged to Subaru. He pushed off the floor and leaned back against the wall.

"A-Are you feeling better? I-I didn't m-mean to s-startle you. I'm s-sorry! I-I j-just wanted t-to see if you were breathing." Subaru looked as if he might stop breathing himself!

Zel closed his eyes. "Yes. I'm fine. This happens every so often. It's very…embarrassing, as you can imagine. I hate the attention it brings me." Zel opened his eyes to find Subaru had backed off to give him some space. Good. "Um…thanks for getting me out of the middle of the store. I'm all right now. I can get up, now."

As soon as Zel was standing, Amelia spied him and ran over to see how he was. "Oh, Zelgadiss, I got rid of those pants Miss Lina wanted you to try on. I told her they'd be too big and that she should see if Mr. Xelloss would like them instead. And," she gave him her best smile, "I found this instead!"

To Amelia's credit, she had actually found a great looking shirt for Zel. It was a black and white striped long-sleeved men's shirt, but it was soft and more black than white. "With a black t-shirt and jeans…I think it would look cool."

Nodding his approval, Zel reluctantly had to agree with her selection, "Yes. It's not bad at all, Amelia. I think I could wear this on stage and not wish I were dead. Thanks."

That made her day. Amelia glowed with pride. "You are very welcome, Zelgadiss! Now I need to find something for Miss Filia. Want to help me?"

But Zel had had enough trauma for one day. "No. I'm going to find a drinking fountain," he muttered and quickly ran for the door.

"With black tights and cute boots, this would suit you, Amelia," Lina offered the younger girl a blue on blue striped short jumpsuit that could only look good on someone like Amelia, who thought it was darling, luckily. Hokuto agreed.

"Where did you find that? It's soo cute! So, what does Filia look like? She the leggy blonde Amazon? Right, I remember seeing her perform once…lemme think," Hokuto helped Lina shift through racks of clothing, with stripes in the radar.

In the meantime, Val was thinking about how he could get 'stripes' to work for him. They were an acceptable motif, after all… The men's suits looked intriguing. Yes. He nabbed a possibility and sneaked into a dressing room to try it on first. 

Gourry wasn't certain he liked having Xelloss helping him. Although he dressed more conservatively than the others, he never could trust the guy, and when it came to choosing clothes for him…

"How about this?" Xelloss adjusted his glasses and held up the article in question to check for size. "Looks big enough and you could keep the blue t-shirt and just wear this vest over it."

"Um…not bad, Xelloss. Green stripes're better'n red, right?"

"Or purple!" Xelloss smiled.

"Ah, thanks fer the help, man…" Gourry smiled. "How 'bout I help you now?"

Xelloss frowned a little, "Okay, but…I don't think…" He noticed that Gourry wasn't listening to him and dropped the complaint. He trotted behind the tall blonde young man to the sleepwear. "Ah, I don't think…"

"An' these say real silk…" Gourry was saying over his head.

Silk red and black striped pajamas.

Gourry continued defending his choice, "Yer need loose cool pants, right? Yer don't gotta wear the shirt. Pocket's kinda hokey…"

"My…Gourry…these may do nicely," Xelloss smiled.

Lina passed by them on her way to the dressing room with a eye-shocking bundle of red and orange stripes. "How'er ya doing guys?" She looked at Gourry's vest and t-shirt and froze in place. "Whose idea was this? Xelloss? You have the crappiest taste in clothing, I ever tell you that? No? Well, I am now. Gods…I leave you two to fend for yourselves a few minutes so I can take care of my meager needs and this is what you come up with? ARGH! Come on, Gourry. I'm gonna see that you get fixed up right. Xelloss? Go find Val. He's pretty excited about somethin' in the suit area." 

Gourry turned to give Xelloss a pitiful look and Xelloss strained to return a smile.

Amelia, still carrying her blue striped jumpsuit and blue t-shirt joined Hokuto in the lady's dresses. "How are you doing? Oh, you have lots of things!"

"Yeah, mostly for Subaru. He's so fun to dress up. Like my own big boy doll. Oh, look at this!" 

Lina dragged Gourry over to the men's jeans. "Hey, these are as long as I am tall. Whaddayer think?"

Dark denim striped jeans. He could live with those, maybe.

"Try 'em on and that nice t-shirt…oh…and this, too!"

"A scarf?" his voice wavered.

"Yeah, it's a little funky but you could use it like a belt or t'tie yer hair back or somethin', okay?"

He took the pants without question. She tossed the scarf over his shoulder and aimed him at the dressing room. "Good!" she muttered. "Now for Val…" On the way she snagged an extra large 'engineer's' work shirt for Gourry. She scampered over to his dressing room and yelled, "Gourry? Open up!"

"Er…ah…not right now Lina." He voice was muffled.

"Oh, well…try this too!" and she tossed the shirt over the top of the stall and ran off to claim her next victim.

Val, however, was already strutting about in his 'find' and showing it off to Xelloss. "Clas-sic Zoot suit, dude!"

Xelloss was giggling. "You going to go shirtless with it as well?"

"Naw, I gotta idea fer that. Where did that hid-e-ous gold-puke shirt go to?" Val grumbled and returned to the dressing room to hunt through the piles of discards lying around on the floor. "Hey, Xelly-dude!"

Xelloss shook his head at the latest nickname and sauntered over, "Yes, Vally-boy?" 

"Here's a t-shirt ta go with those pajamas. Ah, do those gotta button or somethin'…in front?"

Xelloss caught the shirt as it flew over the top of the stall and answered, "Yes. I'll be decent, don't worry."

"Good. Yer wouldn't wanna embarrass Lina or anythin'," Val said as he emerged from the room re-dressed with the gold colored t-shirt under the suit jacket this time.

Xelloss smiled as he entered the same room Val had just left, "I will be wearing striped boxers underneath, just in case!" Then he started laughing.

A concerned clerk tapped Lina, who'd been benevolently surveying them for a moment, on the shoulder. "Um, Miss…make sure you don't get your own clothes mixed up with ours, you know…" he begged, helplessly.

"Oh, don't worry," Lina waved off his concerns. "We're rock-stars. We know what we're doing, and you'll come out of this with money in your pockets, so just relax."

"Waitaminute—you're that kid band, the Slayers, aren't you?"

"Yup! I'm Lina Inverse, the fearless leader—and it looks like I'm needed over here!" Lina spotted a fashion-crime being committed. "Thanks for letting us use your store!"

"S-sure!"

Next door, Zel smiled and made his purchase. He'd have to tell them about this place… He unscrewed the cap off his bottled water, took a sip, and started back to the resale shop.

Lina had her outfit chosen. Stripes suited her fine! She found a searing red and orange striped cotton sundress—at least, it was a sundress for a twelve-year-old. On her, it was short and scorching. Lina may have been short, but what height she had was all in her legs, like Hokuto. In fact, Hokuto knew exactly what to do with that little number.

"Oh! You wear it with thigh-highs and boots, of course! It's awesome!"

"You got it! But I'm not sure what kind of boots I've got…"

I have the perfect ones! What size shoe do you wear?" she inquired.

"Oh, sevens or so…"

"Me, too! We're really about the same size, you know!"

"Yeah, sure are…Tell me about these shoes—you sure you don't mind helping the enemy?"

"'Course not! The Seals are gonna win for sure anyway! Or maybe the Harbingers… Oh, and I need to find stuff for Subaru…" Hokuto pulled out a long slinky dress with spaghetti straps and black and blue stripes. "Wow! Here we go! Subaru!"

Subaru looked up, afraid of what punishment might come if he didn't respond immediately to her whims. "Y-yes?"

Hokuto caught her twin by the arm. "How 'bout this?" Hokuto beamed, swinging the skinny, striped dress around.

"H-hok-ku-t-to…" Subaru choked out. His face flushed; his knees weakened. 

Zelgadiss had chosen that moment to re-enter, and the scene he was met with was of Hokuto holding a dress out like an offering to Subaru, who looked like he was going to faint. In a flash of demon-speed, he stepped to the poor boy's aid, supporting him at the shoulder. "Steady, there…"

"What the hell's wrong with you all!" Hokuto demanded, shaking around the dress angrily. "It'd look fine!"

"Not on him!" Gourry sputtered.

"WHAT?!" Hokuto wondered. Suddenly, she figured it out, and laughed until she nearly cried. "Oh ho ho ho ho! You—you thought that I meant for—ha ha ha ha!"

Subaru dissolved in a blush. "Oh…"

"I meant for FILIA!" Hokuto explained. "I may have wild tastes, but I wouldn't put my brother in a dress!" 

Amelia let out her held breath. Zel sighed. Subaru's heart rate slowed closer to normal. 

Lina rubbed the fabric between her fingers. "Yeah, that'll do. Filia wears 'slinky' good and it kinda goes with Amelia's blue stripes, too. Good job, there Hokuto. Maybe fashion design _is_ your forte, huh?" She leveled her ruby-eyed gaze toward Zelgadiss. "You look pleased about somethin'. Show me what you have to wear for the contest."

"Not that it's your business…" he muttered _way_ under his breath, and looked over at Amelia.

She took up the hint and produced the shirt she'd chosen for him from under her armload of clothes. "Here. Isn't it just great? I think it keeps the dark, mysterious thing going for him."

Lina nodded, "Let me see you in it, with this!" To his horror, Lina produced a mostly white vest with narrower black pinstripes. To which she added, "I could add a tie…or scarf…"

Zel's eyes raked over the vest. "Fine." That was it. One word and he was off to the dressing room. Why bother arguing in public? It would hurt him more than her in the long run anyway.

"There's Lina. She'll wanna see this on us so we may as well show her now," Val said to Xelloss.

Xelloss was pulling at the form-fitting, sleeveless black t-shirt Val had chugged at him. "This is worse than one of those mesh things of yours that I've been wearing. This doesn't cover my belly button!"

"Yeah, and the pajamas don't either. What will yer fans think!" Val coughed and snorted at the scandalized expression painting Xelloss' face.

Lina smiled at the sight of Val in his striped suit. She would have chosen it for herself had there been anything her size. Xelloss at his side was running a hand nervously through his hair. Gods, he looked hot, too, and luckily, he was so unaware of it. "Much better, you guys. Val…what can I say…absolutely terrific…comes to mind."

"Oh, yeah? Well, I gotta fix up this t-shirt a bit…" he grinned. He opened a knife he'd had hidden away in the palm of his hand and aimed it at his chest.

Xelloss gasped then cried out in alarm, "Ohhh…noooo…" His Karate training lent his instincts precision, as he lunged at Val and twisted the wrist holding the knife.

Val dropped the knife in surprise as he held off Xelloss with his other hand, "Dude! I'm not gonna cut myself! Shit! What kinda nutcase are you…" At which point he realized what kind Xelloss **was** and stopped talking. Obviously, Xelloss was associating the blade with his own chest being mutilated. In a gentler tone, Val said, "I meant to just add some slashes to the shirt. I'm not gonna touch myself, promise. Okay, Xelloss?"

Xelloss nodded and closed his eyes. He was scared and had reacted automatically. His innate fear of knives and being cut broke through his usual self-control. He felt the warmth of a small soft body clinging to him and offering him some sympathy. Soothing.

"It's okay, Mr. Xelloss. We all understand," Amelia said as she pulled away.

Xelloss smiled faintly and adjusted his glasses. "Sorry, Val. Go ahead with what you were going to do."

Val pulled the shirt out from his chest and cut and tore four nearly parallel opening across the front. As if some clawed beast had ripped it!

"Now, the look's com-plete!" Val smiled smugly at Lina, who nodded.

"Wow, I haven't done a 20's outfit in a while!" Hokuto gushed. "That looks soo cool! Val, has anyone ever told you that you could go into modeling?"

"Huh?" No one had.

"Yeah, you're so tall and you're skinny and pretty muscular, too, and of course you've got a great face and piercing eyes!" she listed, making his ego inflate dangerously.

"And you…" she turned to Xelloss and outlined the pronounced biceps muscle on his arm. "…Could, too! Great hair…I didn't realize how really well-build you were under those clothes." She ran her hand up under his snug t-shirt a few inches, then stopped. 

He recoiled. "I have some very unattractive scars, which I'm sure you don't want to know more about."

She patted his arm, "Hey, sorry. I still think you look hot in those clothes, though."

"Ah, well…I'm feeling pretty _warm_, actually!" he giggled nervously.

Lina clear her throat, "So, about the outfit…"

Val interrupted, "He'll wear the mesh shirt and be fine."

"Oh, Subaru!" Hokuto cried. "Val looks too cool in that thing! You've gotta go try on some of these things to make me feel better!"

"N-no, I really don't think—"

"That's right, I think **for** you! Now go!" she dumped a pile of things in his arms and pushed him towards the little dressing rooms, closets with white-washed slat doors.

"Wait—" Lina grabbed something dark off a rack. "I wonder if this would…just a sec, guys, I'm gonna try this on."

"I wanna try on my stuff, too!" Amelia gushed.

"Then I'll do it, too!" Hokuto decided.

The boys exchanged secret glances. This was the price you paid for hanging out with beautiful girls…

"Drum roll, please!" Xelloss said as Lina emerged minutes later. "First we have the lovely Lina Inverse, in a fiery little— very LITTLE—number which is effectively cute with the contrast of the bulky men's sport coat! It's says she's cute, in charge, and ON FIRE!"

"Stuff it, goofball," Lina snorted. "But looks like I'll take it, eh?"

"Very nice!" Gourry nodded.

"Can we…move on?" Zel wondered to himself, since no one was listening. 

"Needs the fishnets and high heels," Val commented.

"That's tights and boots!" Lina corrected with a punch.

Amelia hopped out. 

"Next, we have sprightly Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, who's looking very eighties-chic in blue and green jumpsuit with bike shorts and blue T! You can tell she's young, active and energetic!"

"You look nice!" Gourry smiled.

"I'm…ready to go," Zel told himself.

"Be better without the second pair of shorts," Val noted.

"She'd get cold!" Lina punched him again.

"Now, the ravishing Hokuto Sumeragi graces us with her overwhelming presence!" His voice caught in his throat. What could he say about…that? "Oh, my… It's a Hokuto original, biker-punk with a feminine flair! Denim vest with flashy vinyl trim, turtle neck tank, and a garter belt OVER her shorts! I'm in love!"

"It's…nice," Gourry decided on.

"So what's new…" Zel sighed to himself in answer to Xelloss's outburst, of course. 

"The collar's a little high, but the nylons are…" Val grinned.

Lina stepped on his foot without comment.

"You look good in anything!" Amelia praised her.

"Are we through now?" Zel whispered.

"Just one more delicate crea-ture," Val chuckled.

"C-Can I come out n-now," Subaru's muffled voice sounded from the dressing room.

"Yes!" Xelloss answered. "And now, for the male point of view, we ha-have…ah…" Xelloss blinked and was back in his announcer persona instantly. "Subaru Sumeragi in a most unusual treatment of the yellow rain slicker! By wearing it under a clear plastic outer coat and over a black satin shirt and pinstripe slacks, he gives us a rainy-day pop version of Mr. Val Gaav's altered twenties look!" 

"That's…nice," Gourry's smile was forced.

"He needs to get out of here, too…" Zel muttered.

"He don't look nothin' like me!" Val sputtered.

"Oh, he looks like a little brother! Perfect accessory to make you less threatening, Val," Lina elbowed him with more force than could possibly be necessary.

"Very yellow!" Amelia said.

"Oooh! It's so cuuute! I'm a fashion genius!" Hokuto applauded herself.

"Ah…can I…take it off, now?" Subaru squeaked.

"The faster the better," Val grumbled very quietly and moving out of Lina's hitting range.

"Yeah, but you've got to try on these, too, so that we have alternate things to wear while we're here!" she handed him a stack of clothes that made his spirits visibly droop.

There were a few more Sumeragi twin fashion vignettes before they were done. Subaru ended up with red jeans, a black button-down shirt and an over-long denim jacket, as well as the yellow horror. Hokuto found a skirt with built in flounces, something oddly-shaped done in pink faux fur, aqua green denim shorts and a lavender halter top that matched the lighter highlights in Zel's hair, Amelia commented. 

"That's enough for me," Zel remarked and moved toward the door.

"Wait," Xelloss called out. "There's just time for one more sensational outfit from the twins. Let's make this one a seasonal delight, eh?" he giggled. 

To everyone's surprise, they both came out of the dressings rooms wearing…nearly identical outfits! 

"Whoa!" Xelloss took a double take. "I do need my eyes checked because I am seeing double!" he said lightly. "Okay, so the twins are going nautical this time wearing navy sharkskin clamdiggers with matching sailor tops. The lovely lady with a red tie and the…ah…handsome young man with a yellow one." He bent over toward Zel and whispered, "I did get that right, didn't I? It would be soooo embarrassing if I mixed them up, wouldn't it?"

"It would kill your chances getting the girl, yes."

Lina looked at Val then at Xelloss, "Okay…then my work is done. Where's that lazy clerk when you need 'im? I wanna go get lunch. Burger and fries and…a big chocolate malt!" 

Money changed hands mysteriously, the bags were deposited into the Suburban, and then the kids roamed the town looking for a 'greasy spoon'—with the twins dressed in the sailor outfits, to Hokuto's delight and her brother's polite, silent anguish.

"Nothin' like the sea air to charge up an appetite," Lina said.

"What sea air?" Zel muttered. "You've been indoors all morning." 

Lina shot him a warning glare. "THE sea air. In or out it's all the same air when you're at the beach, which we are."

"Not after it's been filtered through the air conditioners and ventilation system," Xelloss corrected her. "After all that processing it's not the same air at all, actually." He grinned down at her, then took a seat at another table.

She stuck out her tongue in reply. He returned the gesture. 

"Ooooo yucky!" Hokuto squealed. "Tongues are so…weird looking anyway."

Xelloss giggled, "You ought to see Zelgadiss'. It's the longest thing. He can touch his nose with it!"

Zel had opened his mouth to answer a question posed by Gourry, when he heard Xelloss' comment. He snapped his mouth shut and blushed, of course, like always when everyone was turning to gape at him.

"I will kill that guy someday…" Zel muttered through gritted teeth, keeping his tongue well hidden.

"Oh! Do it Zelly!" Hokuto giggled. "Show us!"

Lina nudged him a little, "Ah, come on, Zel. Just do it and get it over with. Don't make such a big deal about it!" She smiled at the deadly stare he was giving her right then. "Besides, its just more proof that you're not all human. You know part elf, part human…a chimera!"

Now a year ago, Zelgadiss would not have done it. He wouldn't have walked around in public without his concealing, hooded sweatshirt, even in the summer heat. He wouldn't be sitting at a table being gently teased by a group of friends, old and new. He wouldn't have just purchased clothes sporting stripes or another earring to add to his recent collection, his secret passion. No, a year ago he would not have gotten himself into this situation at all. So thinking, he supposed that this was progress, in some illogical way.

"All right," he sighed, set down his menu, closed his eyes, swallowed, and…stuck our his tongue, stretched it, reached up to touch the end of his nose…

"Oh my Gawds! That is so cool!" gushed the young waitress. She had arrived toting platters of food and drinks. "I hadda cousin who could do that but…wow…he had pimples and a crew cut and YOU are sooo cute." 

Zel, speechless, had cause to blush as the waitress set his burger and ice water in front of him. 

"Yeah, he's an elf!" Xelloss added. "I don't suppose your cousin…"

"Elf? Naw, nothin' that cool…Portuguese or was it Puerto Rican, I fergit. So, where's the other folks? I got four more super-sized ta go?"

"That's for us!" Lina signaled her end of the table. "And this is just starters! Better bring me two more!"

"Me, too!" Hokuto cried out. "I just looooove to eat!'

"Um…if its not too much trouble…" Gourry smiled.

"Naw, I got all day. My shift just started. How 'bout you, elf, and yer cute buddies?"

"This one would like a soda!" Xelloss cheerfully waved.

Zel shook his head. He wasn't able to speak yet. Elf! Yep, looked like Xelloss might be turning into rough duty for Zel. The rest of lunch passed without excitement.

"So, what's next on the docket?" Hokuto asked, bowing to Lina for the activity planning.

Zel replied, "We are going to enjoy the sand and surf back at the house. I don't want to leave Beast all alone much longer."

"HA!' Xelloss chuckled. "That dog will sleep all day if you're not there to annoy him."

"Says the master of annoyance…"

But no one was listening to them trade witticisms, Lina was leading them onward and upward.

"Look at this place! And it was right next door to the first shop we went into," Lina pointed out.

Amelia gasped a bit wide-eyed at the Goth-garbed hooker with nine-tails modeling in the window, "Um….its kinda…"

Hokuto grinned, "It sure is! Cool accessories and wigs, and ooooooh the best brands of black lipstick!"

"Brands?" Gourry whispered to Val. "There's more than one kind?"

"Yeah, wanna try? Some go on smooth and easy, while others smear and…what?" Val looked over at Gourry.

"I never saw ya wearing …stuff like that," Gourry said, hold back a smile with tremendous difficulty.

"Only for those…special occasions," Xelloss smiled. "Right, Val-ly?"

Val snorted something demeaning to him and shuffled over to the men's clothes.

"Where's Zel?" Gourry asked Xelloss.

"Showing Subaru the earrings, or something. Zelgadiss' new shadow." 

Gourry watched Xelloss walk away and thought that the way he'd said that sounded like he might be a little bit tinged with jealousy. Xelloss and Zelgadiss had been close, like brothers, for coming upon a year. Zel was his best friend and now, it seemed he was ignoring Xelloss and paying more attention to the new kid. Maybe that was why Xelloss had been acting up again. Gourry sauntered over to Val, "Do ya think yer could help me get Zel alone?"

Val shrugged. He didn't care why. "No problemo, dude."

Val was decked out in his full punk regalia, complete with chains that jangled softly when he moved. Zelgadiss looked up when he heard the noise descending on him. "Yes?"

"Just checkin' out yer progress, dudes," Val folded his arms and smirked at Subaru.

He pointed out a silver hoop the size of a dime. "Y-you've had a lot of experience, I see. Does it hurt…much?"

Val's smile widened, "Naw…over inna sec. Here, lemme in-tro-duuuce you to the lay-dee in charge." Val led the slender youth away by the arm to find the sales clerk doing the piercings, leaving Zelgadiss standing alone. 

"B-but I don't want—!!!" Subaru protested frantically.

Val's job was done…

Zelgadiss, having already made his purchase secretly earlier when he'd been out getting water and having no audience, scanned the room for another friend in need. His eyes met those of Xelloss and he tilted his head in a gesture indicating that he should join him. Xelloss skipped over with a winsome smile. "Hi-ii!"

"What do you think of that one?" Zel asked, pointing out an earring shaped like a dagger.

Xelloss bent, nose to the glass, "Cool…gonna add it to your collection?"

Zel started. "How do you know about…" he lowered his voice, "…about that?"

Xelloss smiled, "I've seen it. Oh, don't worry, your secret earring fetish is safe with me."

"No it's not. You tell everyone anything eventually."

"Not really. Lina knew about the nose trick before me. I just beat her to it. Besides, it's cool. Amassing earrings…now, that's a secret worth keeping. Want to head back to the beach house?" Xelloss asked.

"Yes. We could walk. It's only a mile or less, even."

Xelloss altered the placement of his glasses and said, "O-kay, do-kay! But you tell Lina!"

Zel told Gourry…to tell Lina while he and Xelloss slipped out unseen.

They headed out to the beach, found the firm damp sand, took off their shoes, and with their backs to the sun walked homeward. Xelloss returned a ball to a little boy who had bumped into his leg while in hot pursuit of it. Zel watched and noticed that his friend's distinctive purple hair shimmered in the bright sun, making them quite conspicuous. Xelloss laughed and pointed out how Zelgadiss' hair appeared to be made out of gleaming wires when exposed to the intense glare off the ocean.

"See? Those people notice it too! Oh, there's some girls. Great, they can't miss us!" Xelloss snickered.

"I think that they're looking at you," Zel sighed. "Now I know why I've spent my summers inside the chemistry department's computer room. Look at my arms!"

Xelloss looked. "Aside from a slight sunburn…actually the scars are fading. Maybe more sun on your skin is what you need to cure your markings, eh?"

That was interesting news! "You really think so?"

"Yeeees. I don't make up stuff like that, you know—not to you! Hey, they're waving. Wave back. That's the way. See, you can be friendly to strangers…as long as they're younger and prettier…"

"And girls," Zel added promptly. "They're too young, I think."

"Yes, I agree. Probably middle school age, from the…braces…"

"And the fact that they are sitting with adults…there, under the umbrella…frowning and wishing we'd just disappear."

"Well, then…" Xelloss grinned and took a step toward the girls. Zel moaned under his breath, stood his ground, and watched Xelloss as he hopped over and knelt down by the cutest girl and said 'hi'. 

After a few seconds, Zelgadiss slowly walked over to join them. He was reticent to speak at first, but when one of the girls introduced herself, he had to respond.

"Hi! I'm Jiyu Nanohana, called Jubei!" the sweet-faced, brown-haired girl said proudly.

"…I'm Zel."

"Yeah, we recognized you two. You played at a dance at our middle school last year...the a…"

"Slayers. Yes, we did. You have a good memory. We didn't play for long, just filled in for the deejay." Zelgadiss had determined that they were far too young to be interesting and was ready to move on.

"Yeah…but we're going to Seyruun High as freshman this year," Jubei cried cheerfully.

"See you there!" Xelloss said as he stood up. He smiled and followed Zel down the beach. "Hey, wait up!"

"Too young," Xelloss whispered as he caught up.

"Glad you are able to tell."

"We need to be friendly to our fans, Zelgadiss."

"Of course."

A little further down the beach and Xelloss started talking again. 

"Zelgadiss? I've been thinking…"

"About what?" Zel slowed his pace to allow Xelloss more breath to talk. He hoped that he'd say what was on his mind and get it over with.

"Something Subaru had said…he'd been visiting the Sakura Burial Mounds with his grandmother, receiving training. I've heard of them…before," Xelloss said.

"Could it have been shrine related?" Zel hoped.

Xelloss shook his head, "No. I thought so at first, since he'd mentioned his training, but no… This memory goes way back. Something I must have overheard a long time ago."

"An Eastern," Zel dropped his voice very low, "syndicate operation or one of their outposts?" Gods he hoped not, because if it were true, then the Syndicate had just made contact with the heir apparent of three-fifths of everything under Shabrinigdo's organization plus all of DARKSTAR's—Xelloss! Could the twins really be plants--syndicate spies? 

"I don't know, Zelgadiss, but I'm afraid," Xelloss said, his voice husky with emotion. "I need to go home. A home and live normally for awhile, I think. Do you think our lives will ever be normal? You know, live in one place for years at a time. Go to school or work, but not into some battle. I'd really like to avoid seeing people die, too. And…I'd like to meet someone…a girl who'd think I was really cool."

"Yeah, me too," Zel conceded and walked on in golden silence. For both of us, but you especially, he thought.

Xelloss was not one to believe that 'silence is golden'. "I wonder if Zelas actually had time to cut me off. I mean, before the helicopter blew, she said my inheritance was over since I wasn't going to dance to her tune any more."

"Unless she didn't think that you'd follow through with her instructions from the beginning, I don't see how she could have had time to do anything." Zel glanced at his friend a moment. What now?

"Do you think that DARKSTAR's people…the one's who remained behind in…Europe or wherever…do you think that they will trace his death back to me somehow? Do you think that they will try to contact me?" 

"Oh, Xelloss," Zel's voice cracked. "I don't think so. No one knew but Zelas and she wouldn't have left a paper trail or note. She didn't even have a headquarters to work from, did she?"

"When I was picked up and taken for medical care…it was all by helicopter and I was blindfolded so I don't know where I was, but it wasn't far. My guess is that it must have been one of Gaav's old abandoned places."

"Do you want to go check out some places for…I don't know…computers or some other kind of information she might have left for some minion to find?" Zel hoped Xelloss did not, but he would have done it!

"I think we'll meet with our lawyer first, then we'll see. Maybe McGywn would do us a favor and track down the last details. I need to practice as the Nuriko stand-in and…I don't know how many other things…" Xelloss sounded on the verge of despair. 

"Hey, stop that. Stop worrying, you are beginning to sound like me! We have the rest of today and tonight here at the beach. Let's not think about all the rest of our problems…yes, I said 'our'… You're not alone. I'll be right there and so will Lina and Gourry and…the others like before, like always." Zel stared hard at his friend. He had to believe him. He had to believe that he wasn't going to face his problems alone.

Xelloss smiled faintly, "Thanks, Zelgadiss. You're right, I've always got my little brother to lean on, huh?"

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Eighteen. ~*~ 

.


	19. Chapter 19

Seyruun High Jinx Summer Special

****

The Slayers: **Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel**

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

(Note: Seishirou, Subaru, and Hokuto are all characters created by the writing team at CLAMP for the Tokyo Babylon and the X manga series. Jubei-Chan is a character from the Anime known as Jubei-Chan Legend of the Lovely Eye-Patch.)

Part Nineteen

By the time Lina and company roared up to the house in Val's Suburban, Zelgadiss and Xelloss had had time to fire up the grill, wrap up some baking potatoes, marinate steaks, and were currently in the process of chopping vegetables for a huge salad. 

"Oh, wow!" Hokuto cried out. "I love these guys! Can I borrow them for our apartment?!"

"I think you'd have to marry me first," Xelloss said with a smile. 

Lina had other thoughts and wasn't too shy to share them. "No can do. I still have need of both of you in the band, but, Hokuto…I'll keep you in mind when their better replacements come in."

"Better than me?!" Xelloss grinned. "I clean, protect, and dance. Try replacing all that!"

Zelgadiss stayed clear of the nonsensical blather by engaging Gourry in grilling the meat. Together, they operated the barbecue outside, leaving the others to sort out the tableware and drinks. What he wanted to do was to get that Subaru character alone and pump him for syndicate information, or at least see if he and his sister were as clueless as they wanted to seem. His turn, however, wouldn't come until late that night.

"Better get these off for the rare guys," Gourry said as he gripped a couple steaks with the long tongs and began a pile onto an awaiting platter. "Lina's one and I think Val is."

"I'll check," Zel said and dipped back into the house. 

Amelia and Hokuto were putting the finishing touches on the silverware, Subaru was taking drink orders and Val and Lina were trading insults over who deserved the larger chairs—the most important (Lina) or the bulkiest (Val forgetting Gourry). Xelloss was lighting candles and giggling as Hokuto would either blow one out or pretend to tickle him.

"Rare steaks? Sit down. Mediums? I need a head count…got it. No well dones? Fine," Zel said. He completed his tasks briefly and with the least amount of fuss possible.

Lina was silenced by the arrival of food, and in a short time so was everyone else. One would have thought having eaten a huge lunch would have repressed their appetites somewhat, but no. Butter-slathered potatoes disappeared by the fork loads, while juicy steaks delivered sizzling hot to the table departed by way of applied knife action. When the salad bowl was wiped clean, the meal was declared over.

"No dessert?" Xelloss turned toward Zel for confirmation to the negative.

"Not my problem. Although, if you want it that bad, you could walk to the small ice cream vender about 500 yards up the road," Zel noted. "It's light out for a few more hours and I bet he sells to sundown."

A small contingent followed Xelloss in search of sweets, while another stayed to help wash up. Zel elected to feed Beast and dry dishes. Ignoring the evil premonitions, he was thoroughly enjoying this vacation. His friends were there with practically no strife between them to overload his tolerance for close companionship. His dog. Yes, his devoted dog. Zel silently thanked Xelloss for giving up his own claim to the animal. And cooking, what a pleasure that was for a change! He was free to cook, although more quantity than he preferred, but…you couldn't have everything, no? Even the new kids dumped on them were fine. If only he could settle the itch he couldn't scratch concerning their connection with the syndicate, then everything would be…well, perfect.

"You look relaxed," Gourry observed. He had washed the last of the dishes and now dried his hands on a damp towel as he watched Zel finish drying a stack of plates.

"Yeah. Best vacation that I can recall. Done! Want to go outside?"

"Sure. Grab that football by the door and I'll drum up whoever else it around, 'kay?"

Zel nodded, but paused to slather on more sunscreen first. He looked into the bathroom mirror, something he rarely did, and stared. Xelloss had been right! He was a bit sunburned, but the pronounced redness from the burn scars was negligible. Only the boundary lines between the burned areas and the clear were conspicuous at all. Xelloss alone had been the one to mention it to him. Was it that the others were afraid to point it out and rile him? Zel had to admit that he oversensitive at times about his appearance, but that was because…oh…how he hated to admit the truth to himself… But he remembered how other kids admired him before the accident. He was quite aware of the effect he had had on the girls even though he had had no interest in them. It had been such an ego trip at the time…fifth grade. Only…the one person he most admired back then treated him like he was just an ordinary kid-- although a remarkably brilliant and creative individual—and that was Lina. His popularity was lost on her, kinda.

Zel smiled when he remembered Lina once telling him that she would trade her notoriety for his glamour. Yeah, sure… Lina with all her charisma… It had simply been a passing thing at the time, and they both had known it for what it was, even at the time. Looks and being in the right group were so important back then. Now, Lina had it all and, Zel smiled, she knew it. And himself? Well, maybe he had more important things than knock-em-dead looks. He didn't know what, exactly, but he had friends and that had to be on that list at the top. Besides, he wasn't so freakish any more. Odd but not horrible. Part elf--thanks again to Xelloss and Lina for that one.

"Hey, Zel?" Gourry shouted from the outside door. "You comin'?"

"Uh…Yes!" Zel blushed and tossed the sunscreen onto the stand by the sink and flew out of the bathroom. He seized the football on the way out and yelled, "Run out for a pass!" before heaving the ball out of the house and into the air toward Gourry's outstretched arms. 

Amelia bounded out of the other house, dressed in a bathing suit with shorts. She ran pass the boys and dashed into the water screaming with excitement. Val, who had been using the phone surreptitiously in her house wandered with languid movements to the water's edge and watched her cavort awhile before joining the ball-toss game.

Before long, the 'desserters' returned and clamored into their respective rooms to change for fun in the sun. Xelloss, out of shirts he judged clean enough, dug through Zel's bag and turned up a tank he was sure was stuffed in by mistake. He tried it on and checked his image in the bathroom mirror. Scars! He could make out where Gaav's bullet had pierced his shoulder and the jagged ends of others on his chest and back from Dubois. Funny, what scars had his real father left on him? Nothing visible…oh the hair and eyes, but he could live with those. Would the scars bother anyone? He shrugged and decided not. He wanted to tan his shoulders so this would have to do—friends wouldn't mind, would they? He wondered at the face staring back at him in the mirror. He'd be nineteen this year; would he ever need to shave, or would he be caught up in Never Never Land forever? Who was he anyway? Dark and secretive whose Syndicate machinations ensnared all his friends in covert activities? Loony drummer searching for a girlfriend? Brilliant, talented, emotionally messed up…'ex' this, 'ex' that…He stared, but the other face simply smiled back.

"Mr. X-Xelloss? Are you going to come out as well?"

Xelloss slipped on his glasses and opened the bathroom door, "Coming, Subaru!" Xelloss said, and the boy in the mirror did, too.

Subaru, completely inept at 'catch', was demoted to cheerleader, but his sister, after finishing her double cone (peppermint and lemon custard) was pretty good. She would dive for a difficult pass and could throw with a beautiful spin on the yam-shaped ball. Zel was better mostly because he could outrun anyone to catch the impossible tosses. Lina had decided to join Amelia for a cooling splash in the water. Val had a strong, straight throw, but his shoulder was stiff, limiting his abilities. Xelloss and Gourry were mismatched in size but oddly adept at the sport, such as it was played—Slayers-style.

"Take my super charged 'astral vine' pass!" Zel threw it like a homing missile bent on destruction.

"Yeah, well, that's nothing compared to my dark monster powers!" Xelloss caught it and threw it back in one fluid motion. Subaru clapped on the sidelines.

"Oh yeah, well, I've got the gods watching over MY passes!" Hokuto grinned and intercepted Gourry's intended catch, and, more impressively, jumped nimbly out of the way so avoid being crushed by him in his forward momentum. Her brother gave a sigh of relief when he saw her hop out of the way. She righted herself and instantly pealed off a toss in Zel's general direction, forcing him to scamper across hot sand to complete the pass.

"Ooh! The elf makes a nice catch!" Xelloss praised Zel. 

"And a nice throw!" Gourry nodded, and caught the next one out of the air with his long arms and superior altitude.

Gourry sent the football soaring in a lazy spiral toward Val's strong arm, his healthier one. Val winced at the impact anyway, then threw it long and high. "If my ribs weren't still busted up, I'd drive this clean through that monster shielding ya got up to protect that thick skull of yers, Xelly-dude," he yelled then blinked back tears of pain. "Guess that's it fer me. I'll just watch from the sidelines."

"Yeah, well, fairies are better than elves, because they can fly!" Hokuto made an incredible jump for the next one. "Lina! Heads up!" Hokuto gave an unexpected throw out seaward.

Unfortunately, it didn't make it to its destination, because in between Hokuto and the shoreline was Subaru. Just turning around from watching the sea, he took the ball full-bore in the chest, which knocked him forcefully backwards. 

"That one didn't," Val noted. Zel kicked him, filling in for Lina.

"Oh no! Subaru!" Hokuto cried, remorse and horror in her voice. She ran to his side.

It had knocked the wind out of him, and he lay in the sand struggling to regain it. Zel had to admit, if he was a spy, he was a pretty good actor. But then, Xelloss fainted at the sight of blood, and he… Maybe this boy had tricks up his sleeve, like Xelloss' little black belt in karate? 

"I'm so sorry!" Hokuto said. "But you really should pay attention! I can't be looking out for you all the time, you know!" she admonished.

He nodded, and continued choking.

Well, if he was the best the Asian syndicate had to send, maybe they shouldn't get worried…

Lina and Amelia ran inside to shower off the sand and salt.

"Gettin' some sun, Xelloss?" Lina jabbed at his bare arm in passing.

"Yeah, if I'm having to dress like this for the band, I want to look a shade darker than drugged-out pale," he smiled.

"You look older, but the glasses do that, too," Amelia added, then scampered to catch up with Lina.

Zel stared harder at Xelloss now. Older than what? And that shirt, wasn't that his? "Where did that shirt come from?" Zel asked Xelloss, sending the football spiraling in range of his reach.

"I found it," Xelloss answered evasively and bagged the ball in a tricky over the shoulder catch. He spun around and sent the ball in a high spiral out to Gourry. 

"In my bag, no doubt. It's all right. I just brought it along in case it was warm at night," Zel assured his friend.

"Thanks. I have run out of clean clothes."

"How's that possible?" Zel said exasperated again. "You brought more than I and I've lent clothes to Subaru! Ah…don't tell me that you've been wearing things once and then stuffing them in the dirty clothes bag?"

"Then I won't!" Xelloss grinned and ran out to intercept the ball heading for the water.

Zel saw his chance to best him, and so, ran full bore to the same intercept point. Xelloss had had a head start, but Zel was the faster runner, meaning…they collided with the ball and fell, rolling into the surf just as a wave burst over their heads. 

Xelloss came up sputtering in the foam, bangs plastered over his glasses. He gained his feet before the next wave hit, wiping the hair out of his face, "Zelgadiss?"

Zelgadiss hadn't been so lucky. Xelloss' superior weight had knocked most of the air out of Zel's lungs as he was rammed face down into the water. As he managed to get up onto his hands and knees, gasping for his breath, the next wave blasted into his side. He churned over and over, losing all sense of up and down. Due to his extremely low fat-to-body-weight ratio, he was a poor swimmer and unable to float.

"Zel- GA-DISSS?" Xelloss shouted. Where was he? What was he wearing? Blue? Slivery hair? That all made him blend into the frothy salt water. "Zelgadiss!"

Hearing the shouting, Gourry keened in on the wave action. That's when he saw Zel struggling in deep water and belted straight out into the surf.

There, about twenty feet further out, Xelloss spied Zel's arm flailing about. Xelloss couldn't swim at all, but he couldn't let his best friend just drown! "Gourry! Do you see him?!"

"On it! Go ashore! " Gourry hollered as he charged past Xelloss. His long strokes and strong kicks fought the waves and brought him up alongside Zel. He flipped Zel over onto his back and with an arm around Zel's upper body, dragged him back to shore. Zel was coughing and shaking when Gourry lowered him onto the dry sand. So was Xelloss.

Gourry did a few cursory checks and found Zel shook up, but otherwise unhurt. Val was on the seen by then with an armload of towels, and draped one over Zel. "You all right, dude? You sure scared the shit out of us!"

Zel nodded, unable to speak still.

"Xelloss, you need this to warm up too," Gourry said, taking the other proffered towels from Val; one for himself and one to wrap up the frightened kid. "Lose yer glasses?"

"N-No," Xelloss cried into his towel. He was so upset, the tears couldn't be stopped. 

Subaru and Hokuto reached the small huddle moments later. Hokuto wanted to know what she could do to help and Subaru took the delicate glasses out of Xelloss' death-like grip and started to clean them, carefully removing the sand particles without leaving the lenses scratched.

"That was an amazing rescue, Gourry!" Hokuto praised him.

"Uh, I got lifeguard training…this was the first year I didn't work at the pool and the first time I saved anyone." Gourry pushed a wad of his long bangs out of his eyes and looked back at the house. "Better go back and get these guys warm and dry."

~*~ 

The group gathered around the campfire that night was a little more subdued than usual. Xelloss huddled next to Zel, shooting him quick glances as if to reassure himself that his friend was really alive. Zel was strumming his guitar, leading the others in songs they knew, or mostly knew, the words to. 

Clandestinely, Val was moving around whispering to Gourry, then Xelloss, then Zel. 

"Hey," Val said. "I was thinkin' we could visit the, er, special beach t'night…"

Gourry took one look at the gathering fog, another at their guests, and shook his head meaningfully. Xelloss and Zel made very similar movements.

"Sorry, Val," Gourry apologized. "But it's just to, uh, cold and foggy and stuff."

"Yeah, cold and foggy! Wouldn't want to get lost!" Xelloss agreed.

"Indeed," said Zel, relieved to have a good excuse.

"Well, fine, sissies," Val huffed. "Guess I'll have to go by myself." He stalked off to a seat at the other end of the encampment, next to Amelia and Hokuto.

"What was that all about, Val?" Lina demanded.

"Nothin'" He proceeded to loudly join in with the black-haired girls' chorus of 'Lean on Me,' which was ridiculous enough to distract Lina from his duplicity with laughter.

Zel leaned into Xelloss slightly, "He's going to chicken out."

"You think so?" Xelloss whispered back. "He seems pretty determined to me. I really have had enough of the wave excitement to last me a lifetime. Should we think up an out for him to save face?"

"Yeah. He shouldn't go alone and it's not fair for Gourry to have to go along if he doesn't want to…and he will," Zel sighed. "I know…" He turned and got up on his knees to catch Val's attention. "Hey Val! There's a CD Lina brought for us to check out…one I haven't heard either. We should go in and see if it's worth it, for Lina…"

Val looked over at Zel thoughtfully for a minute. He understood why Zel and Xelloss probably didn't want to go into the water again, but he was still all psyched up to do it! Well, listening to music would be okay, too… "Yeah, if you insist…" he grumbled.

Xelloss winked at Zelgadiss as he stood up and shook off the sand on his pants. "Now who's getting to be the tricky bastard?" he chuckled softly.

Val laid claim to the CD's and CD player first upon entering the 'boys' abode. Everyone naturally squeezed on the floor or the few available chairs. Zelgadiss made it clear that his bed was out-of-bounds territory—not available seating space.

"So, which is the one Lina wanted us to hear? There was sumpthun I wanted ta hear agin, too…eh…oh… This one? It's not in English! Zel, you understand German, doncha?" 

"Me, too!" piped Xelloss. "I got as far as Zelgadiss."

"Oh yeah? I thought it was you an' French…"

"That, too!" Xelloss said melting onto the floor beside Zel and Val.

"Yeah, well…listen to this song an' tell me what he's sayin'," Val urged them both.

Zelgadiss sat in rapt attention focussing on the words. After the loud heavy metal instrumental part broke out, he smiled and met Xelloss' eyes. "I approve," Zel said. 

"It's cool, Val!" Xelloss smiled. "Who's the band?"

"A German heavy metal band called Rammstein. So…what's it sayin'?" Val asked.

"Give us a few minutes to go over it and we'll write out the words," Zel said. "But this part's good, it goes:

They come to you in the night…

Demons, ghosts, black fairies,

They creep out of the cellar shaft

And will look under your bed…

"The name of the song is 'My Heart Burns'," Zel finished and turned back to Xelloss. "It's pretty dark, but cool. So, you think Lina might let you sing it?"

Val grinned darkly, "Think you can play it?"

Xelloss shrugged, "I might need a back brace afterwards. That drummer's killing himself!"

Zel smiled, "I can try…it's…going to be a challenge. Hey Gourry! Listen to this a bit. Can you pick out the bass-line?"

Gourry ambled over and joined the male huddle. "Yeah, might need a better amp to do it, though. Ya think Lina'll want the band to do it?"

"If it can kill Xelloss, I'm sure she will," Val cackled at his own witty retort.

Xelloss made a face and whined, "Liiiinnnnnaaa! You don't want to kill me, do you?"

Lina stopped mid sentence. That was just too good to leave alone. "Xelloss, Xelloss, Xelloss…there are times that I've dreamed of nothin' short of mur…." And then she hesitated. Actually the Xelloss in her dreams was in absolutely no danger of being killed by her…and at that moment one of the rather 'cozier' images shoved its self to the forefront of her mind. "Ah…scratch that. Just shuddup and go back to your side of the room," she said a bit more harshly than necessary.

"O-kaaaay…" He swallowed and fell in a clump beside Gourry. "I guess death by drumming is appropriate. Val, you want to write down the words in that little book you've got in you pocket?"

"What?" Val started to deny his poetry book's existence, but decided that it wasn't worth it. "Oh, that, sure…nothin' important in it anyway…Okay, ready…My heart burns…"

"Ha! Sounds like the new after-Thanksgiving-dinner anthem," Xelloss laughed.

~*~ 

Zelgadiss sighed and turned over, pulling the top blanket up higher round his head. Without the traitorous dog (now taking up Subaru's sleeping space) he had more freedom of movement, even if he did feel slightly abandoned. Actually, this had been a pretty cool trip; all of the lemons thrown at them had been turned into a lemon chiffon cake with citrus sorbet—much better than lemonade. He'd even gotten used to his makeshift bed!

A sudden sound issued from the room where Xelloss and the guest were sleeping. Zel perked up and made himself ready to react.

"Ze-el-ga-diss!" Xelloss whined into the living room where Zelgadiss lay.

"What?" Zel groaned.

"He's got that dog in there. The whole room just reeks of foul dog!"

"Too bad." Zel turned over and listened, waiting for Xelloss to leave. He didn't. "Xelloss?"

"Yeeeessss….?"

"So, you going to watch me breathe all night?"

"Well, I'd rather go to bed."

"Don't let me stop you then."

Xelloss cleared his throat, "Do you think that you could trade beds…I'll sleep out here and you…with the …dog?"

Silence. Sigh.

"Go get your own pillow. You can't have mine." Zel groaned a little as he rolled over a few bruised ribs and scraped elbows on his way off the mattress and onto the floor. "The things I do for these people…"

"Thanks, Zelgadiss, I, ah…" Xelloss faltered. "I was really frightened today… in the water, you know? I thought for a second that I'd lost my very best friend, again—but this time for good! I don't know what would have happened if Gourry hadn't been there! I could see you, but I couldn't reach you! I wasn't prepared to just watch you die, but I almost did!"

Zelgadiss met his eyes for a moment, then looked away, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, if the roles had been switched, I couldn't have saved you either. So, that's just something else we have Gourry to thank for when we get back… Remember our surprise we have planned for his family? All right, think about that then and forget about the…close call…and, ah…good night, Xelloss." Boy, did those meaningful dialogues put him through the wringer!

"Night!"

Zel paused at the door. All his conversation with Xelloss came back to him. Wondering how to ask Subaru if he was a syndicate spy, Zel lowly, quietly opened the door and sneaked in like a thief. There he was, with the doggy lump that was Beast sleeping contentedly on the foot of his bed. Subaru Sumeragi…there was something…strange about him. He was very pretty—he really was identical to his sister, and she was no dog herself. That shy, effeminate face, his gentle and mild manners…unreal. Nobody really behaved like that—and no one as shy and retiring as he made himself out to be would dress so shamelessly! 

Zel entered the room, closing the door soundlessly behind him, and crept through the threshold. That pale little face crowned with shiny black hair, two half-moon fringes of eyelashes lying like feathers on his cheeks—he was somewhere between eldritch and innocent. He had insinuated himself into their vacation so effortlessly. How much had he learned about them all in such a short time? Lots, especially about Xelloss. He was a danger to them all!

Subaru twitched in his sleep and one gloved hand opened, as if to reach out. In his sleep, he began to murmur softly. Zel froze and listened in with all of 

his elven hearing." 

"That… pers...n… under… cherry…tree… Wrong… Sei… shhhiro..s… wrong…"

Wrong about what? Seishirou was wrong about what? Was he involved in all of this, too? Somehow… he doubted it. He was odd, but not the way these two were. No, he must have been their unwitting stooge, fooled by their cute, helpless facades. Zel tip-toed closer to Subaru's bed, to better hear the words that would betray him—

"Hnnnnh?"

Zel fell back and gasped, but it was too late. Beast had noticed him, and was happily recognizing his master with a tail that beat the bed like a taiko drum as it wagged.

The boy stirred and awoke with a start. "H-huh? Z-Zelgadiss? What are you doing here? Where's Xelloss? Is he—is he all right?"

"Why are you so interested in him…in Xelloss?" Zel spat with a surprising intensity.

"Wh-what do you mean? He's okay, right?"

Zel's eyes were on fire. "Why can't you Syndicate slime just leave him alone? He's been through hell so many times, he might never be able to fully come back! What the hell do you want with him? What are you planning? Tell me, or so help me, I'll…"

Initially, Subaru had a mortally terrified expression, as if wondering whether Zel had cracked and was gearing up to take him out. But as Zel had ranted on, the look of terror relaxed, until by the end of the diatribe Subaru, looking calm and serene, reached out and touched Zel's arm. The gentle look on the boy's face jolted Zel out of his fury as much as the contact did. "Zelgadiss, I understand that you're very concerned for him. He's your best friend, after all. But…I'm not with…with any syndicate, Zelgadiss. I promise. I…don't know why you would think that, but…if I am so…evil, in your eyes…I am sorry."

Zel, shaken, stood back and closed his eyes, putting a hand to his brow. "No, no, I…" He what? "I'm…I'm sorry, Subaru. We're just so protective these days. After all that has happened…"

Subaru nodded. "I understand. You can't be too careful, after all you've been through. I'm glad to know that Xelloss has such good friends; he has been hurt terribly, and I…would be very unhappy if I thought that you all weren't taking care of him."

Zel blinked. "Subaru…"

"I'm sorry," Subaru gave him a small, shy smile. "I probably shouldn't have been so presumptuous. Is that why you suspected me of being…an evil one? Because I said some things like that?"

Zel looked a bit sheepish. "Well, sort of… Xelloss and I were talking, and…" he shook his head. It all seemed so silly, now. He couldn't get back that feeling of anger and suspicion. "I'm sorry. I…I'll just go to bed now. Good night, Beast," he patted his dog, which whined happily and then settled back down to sleep. "Um, sorry, Subaru. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Subaru said, lying back down and getting comfortable around the dog. "I forgive you, you know," he laughed lightly. "You were just being a good friend. Why…isn't Xelloss here?"

"Oh, he got fed up with the dog and wanted to switch sleeping places with me."

"He doesn't like dogs?"

"No, not really. He's too much of a neat freak."

"I understand," Subaru laughed. "Well, good night."

"Yeah, good night…" 

~*~

Xelloss had settled into his pillow to listen to the scurrying of little mouse feet, the soft undertone of ocean waves breaking on the shore, and his own heartbeat. He wasn't sleepy. He rolled over onto his stomach, then back onto his left side…then his back…then as he was about to turn over again, he heard a scuffling of feet, more than two pairs outside. 

He tensed and listened for more clues as to the identity and purpose of the intruders. They were at the door! Not more than twenty feet from his mattress! He looked around for a potential weapon. Spotting the fireplace poker, he scrambled out of his bed, grabbed it, then crouched at the ready as the doorknob turned. One, two, three…

"Shhhhh!" Lina whispered. "Stop pushing!"

Xelloss relaxed. What was Lina up to anyway? He decided to play along and see if he could have some fun of his own. He rested the poker alongside his bed and quickly slid back under the sheets, flopped onto his stomach, and hid his head with his blanket. He calmed his pounding heart and waited. 

"I-I'm sorry, Miss Lina, but the battery's all dead I couldn't see you!"

That must have been Amelia.

"Yeah, well…now I gotta take a shower. I don't know what kinda crap I fell into back there…So, once we go in…Hokuto, you can use the bathroom first then take up your post guarding the room close by…"

That was certainly 'Miss Lina'.

"I'll wait till she's out, then take my turn…" Amelia whispered.

"Right, then…station yourself in here to make sure Zel doesn't get any ideas…Val and Gourry can sleep through a bomb blast. Okay…lets go…"

Xelloss smiled. Did the girls really think they were being quiet? Had he been Zel _and_ asleep, all their chatter would have awakened him instantly. Well, now, this has lots of potential!

He lay immobile; for all intents and purposes he was soundly sleeping. The girls moved quietly though the house until he was sure that they had settled into their 'lookout positions', Xelloss decided it was time for him to act. Amelia was seated nearby on the floor. He turned and moaned a little. Not a bad imitation of Zelly-bob, he thought.

"Oh, poor Zelgadiss. I hope you aren't having bad dreams," she sighed affectionately.

"Amelia…" Xelloss whispered.

Amelia straightened. "Did he hear me? Does he know I'm here?"

"Amelia…I…wish…dfhjfhjdfhsss"

This time she moved closer to 'Zel's' pillow in order to hear him better. 

"Oh, Amelia…"

"Zelgadiss?" she whispered in a tiny voice. "Do you dream about me?"

Xelloss whispered more softly and she moved in very close. When he judged she was as near to him as she'd ever get, he pounced on her, covering her mouth with one hand and holding down her other arm over her head with his other hand and her legs with his body.

Even in the near darkness, she could see the glitter of amusement in his eyes, and he could make out her returned look of shock. 

"Shhhh, Miss Amelia. Don't scream and I'll get off, okay?"

She frowned and tried to bite his hand, but he avoided her teeth and shook his head slowly back and forth, "Bad…girl…"

She sighed. He was much heavier and better at all this than her, she conceded in a gesture of surrender.

"That's better. Now, Lina's in the shower, right? Okay, I KNOW she is, did she bring a towel? No? There aren't any in the bathroom besides the hand towel. Did you know that?"

Amelia's eyes widened and she shook her head, "No." She hadn't noticed.

"Then…I'll take her mine," he smiled. "No, you stay here and be quiet."

"B-but Mr. Xelloss!" 

"I'm not going to do anything…terrible. Just a little joke. I mean, imagine how I felt lying in wait for some terrorists to barge in and kill me? Luckily, it was just you girls. Now it's my turn. Oh, no you aren't going to go warn Lina. Do I need to remind you of what I story I could tell your Mr. Zelgadiss?"

She frowned, "Nothing happened…"

He grinned evilly, "I said 'story'…" 

"You wouldn't make up a lie, would you?! That's so unjust!"

"Shhh!" he sighed. "Come on…just give me a minute to surprise her then you can claim anything you want…or I could lock you outside in the dark…"

"Okay…just a minute though…and only because I know you don't mean any harm…"

"That's right!" he smiled and kissed her on the nose. He hopped up grabbed a towel off the top of the pile near his bed and traipsed out of the room to the bathroom door. The water was still running. The door had no lock, so he simply let himself in noiselessly.

Lina was completely aware of her precarious position, showering without permission late at night in the boy's house without a decent lock on the door…Grrr… But that's what her two friends were there for, right? To keep an eye out for intruders, sleepwalkers, or whatevers…Blast the plumbing at their own place! Couldn't take a little Inverse hair in the drain?! What was with those pipes, anyway? Who installed water pipes the size of drinking straws in a beach rental?! Oh…oh…that was a rush of cold air… She knew then that she was not alone in that room. 

"Who's there? Is that you Amelia?" Lina asked in a raspy voice barely discernable over the shower water.

"Lina?" Xelloss asked in an oh-so-innocent voice. "What are you doing in my bathroom at…2:00 in the morning?"

"Xelloss…" she gasped. Yes, the shower curtain was opaque. "None of your business. Now get out of here!"

"Really now, Lina-dear, I do have a reason to be here and I make it my business to know why I'm sharing my space so...intimately…Oh, and turn down the water and don't yell. You wouldn't want to wake the…dead…and have everyone running in to find us…"

She wrenched faucet hard, diminishing the flow of water to a mere trickle. "Our plumbing isn't working and…we came to use the facilities and the flashlight busted and I fell in some crap and now I'm getting clean and you are getting out, Buster, before I start screaming and hope to hell I do raise the dead!"

"Oh…well…I do need to use the bathroom, but I suppose MY needs can wait…"

"You bet they can…that or just go find a bush outside!" she snarled. She was starting to get chilled.

"Euwww! Lina… I stopped doing that about the time I discovered…"

"Xelloss!" she interrupted. "Go!"

"Of course," he said smiling and left the bathroom quietly, shutting the door behind him.

He waited outside the door. Amelia popped up at his elbow, "You didn't give her the towel?"

"Oh," he smiled. "I guess I forgot. Should I go back in and…oops! Too late, water's off and she's getting out."

"Oh for gods'sakes…" Lina's hushed groans could be heard outside the door.

Xelloss pushed Amelia out of the way down the hall, a finger to his lips indicating that she should keep quiet. He returned to the bathroom door. "Lina?"

Silence.

"Might you be needing a towel?"

Pause, then "Yes."

"Hold on, I'm opening the door..." he warned her. Xelloss gave her a few seconds to hide back behind the shower curtain, then slipped inside. "Where would you like me to put this? Oh, Lina…that wasn't a very nice thing to say… And here I am trying to help you out!"

He giggled and hung the towel up onto the only available hook. "I'll just leave it here and go, okay?"

"Ah…sure…thanks…" she grumbled back.

"Oh, just a minute…"

"What!" she gritted her teeth. "**Xelloss, so help me if you don't get your ass out of here this very second I'm gonna blow!**"

"Well, if you insist…" he smiled. He heard a loud thump and a crash from someplace down the hall.

Outside the door to the bathroom, a small group began gathering to see what was causing all the disturbance to their quiet slumbers. Hokuto had strong-armed her brother to the floor and was attempting to trip Zelgadiss—not knowing how agile he was even when half asleep—to keep him inside his room.

"WaoooH…oooahoooooo," howled Beast.

Gourry heard that and leapt from his bed, ramming his foot into the leg of Val's bed good and hard. "Argh! Shit!"

Val was awake.

"Hokuto!" Zel shouted in an irritated way, ignoring the prone Subaru. "Get out of my way!"

"WaoooH…oooahoooooo," howled Beast.

"What the hell…" growled Val catching a glimpse of Gourry's long hair flouncing out the door as the tall kid hopped on one foot to Zel's room.

Lina snarled. "GET OUT NOW! What part of that don't you get?!"

"It's just that…" he started to explain. At this point, he could hear the other kids getting up and he knew that he was in the wrong place at the absolutely wrong time. He also knew that Lina would be very embarrassed if everyone found out about this…misadventure. This was not turning out to be quite the smooth practical joke he'd imagined at the outset, but then, when did it ever work out well for him in the end? 

Zelgadiss had heard Lina's voice clearly. "It's Lina?! Someone's trapped her in the bathroom!" he explained as best he could to Gourry. "Amelia? What are you doing here, too?"

Amelia looked as if she would either burst into tears or laughter, so she just started to hiccup. 

Lina reached out from behind the curtain with her skinny, freckled arm, grabbed the towel and wrapped herself up into a tight terry-cloth tube. "Oh Xel-loss…"she said in a low voice.

"Hmm?" Xelloss grunted interestedly, as he stepped closer to the shower stall.

She rotated the showerhead to point outwards, snapped open the shower curtain, and turned on the water full force.

"Aaaach!" he gasped as ice cold water sprayed over his bare chest and shorts, drenching him to the bone. "Liii-naaa!"

"Ah, that sounded like Xelloss," Gourry said over everyone's head to Zelgadiss, standing nearest the door. 

That did it for Zel. He kicked in the bathroom door shouting, "Lina!"

Two dripping wet kids blinked at the sudden light streaming in from the overhead hall light. Gourry and Zel stood in front of the pack, with Amelia just behind Zel and Val looking over her shoulder blinking back.

"Oh, I was… ah… going to the bathroom," Xelloss began sheepishly. He wiped his bangs to one side and reached for the hand towel. "When I discovered Lina, um…and got her a towel."

Zelgadiss snorted in disgust, "I'm going back to bed. I don't care how you sort this out."

Gourry looked at Xelloss then back to Lina, confused and unsure what to make of their shenanigans. Well, he was certain he didn't like it and that Xelloss had no business being in the bathroom at the same time that Lina was showering, however…what was Lina doing over there, showering at two AM?

He shook his head and rubbed at his sore toe, swollen and throbbing. "I dunno, guys but if yer both done in there, I could use a turn…" Then, not too gently he shoved Xelloss out and suggested to Lina, "Ya wanna get dressed in our room in back?"

"Yeah…thanks," she muttered and stomped out of the bathroom with her dirty clothes tucked under one arm and the other holding the towel tightly. 

Nothing more was said that night.

~*~

The next morning they were all on their own to make toast or pour cereal for themselves. One by one, the kids flopped at the table and scanned it for eatables. The conversation was minimal until enough of them were awake and able to speak in complete sentences.

"So, why the f*^k were you takin' showers and wakin' the rest of us up?!" Val cursed as he spilled hot coffee over his hand.

Lina, in an equally foul mood, kicked him hard under the table. "You wanna smell my clothes and figure it out for yerself?"

Amelia said calmly, "I think what Mr. Val was asking, was why were we over in the first place." 

"Fer starters…"

"The stinking plumbing's plugged up at out place and nothing works in the bathroom so we waited until we were sure you guys were all asleep and hoped that the door wasn't locked and figured: 'Hey! Let's plug up their pipes too!" Lina snarled.

"The bathroom's really pathetic over there guys…really," Hokuto added. "Then Amelia's flashlight chose an inopportune time to wink out on the way over and Lina unfortunately tripped and feel into…something awful so…"

"And that's why I didn't have a towel," Lina mumbled with her mouth full of toast.

Gourry looked particularly peaked, as if he'd had a poor as well as short night's sleep. "So, um…why were you and Xelloss in the shower…both of ya?"

Lina choked and coughed on some crumbs. Gasping for breath, she managed to spit out, "Is that what you think? You thought I was taking a shower with… with… WHAT are you laughing about, Xelloss!" She shouted that last sentence like an enchanted spell intended to kill its intended victim. "You guys have got sick, sick minds…"

Xelloss stifled his giggling with difficulty. "I brought her a towel and… she sprayed me with water. That was it! Honest! Right, Amelia?"

"Sometimes some of you act just like children, not like the grown up adults you portend to be," Amelia declared.

"Don'tcha mean 'pretend'?" Gourry asked. 

"No, I thinks she's trying to cleverly point out that some of us will grow up while some of us only hint at it," Xelloss smirked her way, again twisting her meaning. "From the mouths of children…" he paused to take a bite of toast.

Hokuto turned her head slightly toward Lina and asked in a louder voice than necessary, "So, do you ever think about having children?"

Xelloss was in her direct line of sight. He swallowed his bite of toast and smiled. "However do you mean?" he returned in a tone of voice that hinted of _all kinds_ of hidden meanings and with a wink that implied more.

"She was asking _me_!" Lina snapped at Xelloss to silence his further input. "You'd better put that another way, what with the perverted male mentality at work at the table here." 

"Ohohohoho! I meant having a family of your own someday," Hokuto corrected.

"No, er…I mean not for ages. I have enough trouble dealing with my friends and keeping them in line. As for babies…One day at the Ul Copts with the little wet-at-every-orifice Quentin satisfies my curiosity." She slathered the next slice of toast with butter then asked, "Why?"

"Oh, nothing really. It was just something Amelia said to me the other evening that got me thinking about the future."

A few pairs of eyes shot over to rest upon Amelia. "So, what did you say?" Lina asked.

Oh. Amelia did not want to discuss that now, in front of the others not after all the embarrassment of the night before. "Say? Oh, I don't recall. Would you pass me the milk, please, Mr. Val?"

"Sure you do! You know, the stuff about that friend of yours who is getting married," Hokuto clarified for everyone. "And I said I bet she's the type that wants a lot of kids, being White Shrine and all… Then you said you didn't know what the shrine had to do about it and then I said that the shrine I went to…you know… near Atlas City, the one that got blown up last year. Well, they encourage the girls to get married and start families while they're young. 'It's their best contribution to the community' the priest there said." Hokuto stopped to drink her juice.

Lina appeared a bit ill. Gourry kept one eye on Lina and the other on the stack of toast disappearing just out of his reach. Val was ignoring everyone. He wanted to get on the road. That, and stop at the clan settlement for a little visit. Subaru was trying to eat but was having a difficult time swallowing. He could tell that this topic of conversation was going nowhere good. Zel was sipping his tea and pretending that he was somewhere else. Amelia wished that she was somewhere else, too.

Xelloss was about to start laughing. "Well, that's certainly a tradition in _our _family, right Zelgadiss?" 

Zelgadiss closed his eyes and sank further down into his seat. Someplace far away…

Xelloss continued alone. He hadn't expected Zel to say anything. "But as a priest in the Seyruun shrine, I've never heard anything to encourage it officially. Personally, I think once you have children you are responsible for making their lives as good as possible, and most of the people I know are busy working out the basics of their own lives. Children are terrific though!" he added enthusiastically. "Especially wrigglly little babies," he added smugly to Lina. "They smell so…indescribably cool and I want one."

"Don't look at me, Buster!" Lina warned him with a sharp kick to the shins.

Undaunted, Xelloss took a different tack, "Remember that contest we had going last year…Zelgadiss?"

Zel choked on his tea, slopping it out onto the table and nearly soaking his pants. "Xelloss! There was no contest! That was…something you had going on in your twisted little brain. Now, I'm volunteering to wash dishes." He stood and briskly carried his things to the sink.

"Contest?" Lina asked. "What kind of contest, Xelloss?"

"Well, it hardly matters any more," Xelloss smiled mischievously in Zel's direction, "…since I won…"

"NO YOU DIDN'T!" Zel's voice echoed from the sink.

Xelloss smiled.

"So there WAS a contest?" Gourry asked.

"Yes, you see Zel and I had just learned our family history-- shared relations and all—and we were joking around with his father and my mother and ah…" he checked to see if Zel was going to interrupt him or leave the house. Zel was listening, he decided. "I said something to the effect of 'we should keep in our family tradition and find ourselves a couple of cute young - emphasis on young- girls to'…marry, I guess. So we were joking about having a contest to see who could, ah…succeed…"

"Score, he means," chuckled Val in a comment meant for Gourry but overheard by Lina and Amelia.

"And you won?" Lina asked. She wasn't smiling at Xelloss.

Zel pounded into the room, "No he didn't! No one did. It was a verbal jousting match. A miserable joke that didn't need to be brought up again."

"Oh? I thought you said that you won, after you…" Xelloss flicked his purple gaze over Amelia's face, then smiled. "Well…anywaaay… then I caught up, then you moved ahead, then…I think I moved further…"

Realization washed over Amelia. She turned first to Xelloss then, eyes brimming with humiliation, looked up at Zelgadiss. "You were leading Kiki and me on…for a stupid contest?!"

"No!" Zelgadiss burst out. "Nothing like that! It had been a joke. Stupid and all but just between us to help us deal with the whole weird family situation at the time. There was no 'leading' anyone on…going on."

All right… Amelia's asked cautiously, "Then you did really like me back then? It wasn't just to win some bet that you …kissed me and all?"

Zel had been had. One look at the complacent expression on Xelloss' face and he knew that he'd just walked into a trap. A trap set, baited, and about to ensnare him in Xelloss' evil little contrivance. How to turn things around?

"_'And all'_? Hey, this gets better all the time!" Val laughed now.

"Shuddup, idiot!" Lina snarled. "Zel, you had better answer smart now. I just hope you aren't the slimy little bastard I'm picturing pounding to a pulp. Then again, I could use a little exercise and either you or the fruitcake will do."

Xelloss frowned and started to complain at her choice of nicknames, when Zelgadiss made his move. He had been wringing the kitchen towel between both his hands, but now he switched it over to his left hand as he approached Amelia. He placed his free hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. 

"After all we've been through together I shouldn't have to answer that," Zel said. Then he smiled slightly, "Besides, I'm not that good an actor." And with that smooth admission, Zelgadiss leaned over and picked up her empty plate, "You're done with this? Any other dishes I can take while I'm here?"

Subaru smiled inwardly at the clever sparring in which these guys engaged one another, "I-I'm done as well, but I'll take my own things and help dry!" 

His sister pushed hers to him and added, "You do that! I'm calling Seishirou to make sure he's on his way. What time are you supposed to be outta here?"

"11:00 is checkout time, so we have half an hour to pick up and pack up before the cleaning crew arrives," Xelloss answered. "I'll scan the rooms here for forgotten stuff…"

"And I'll check our place!" Amelia finished cheerfully. She was all smiles now that Zelgadiss had shown everyone that he really did care for her! Ah, well, kinda…maybe that's what he'd meant…it was hard to tell…

Lina sidled up to Zelgadiss. "Eh…pretty sensitive of you, Zel. Someone might be thinking that you've suddenly gone soft."

"That," he turned and said with a smirk, "…or I don't fancy being thrashed to pulp."

"Humph. I think you're gettin' more malleable or…manageable…yeah, I like that. Easier to handle…" Lina cooed and stalked off to check on Val's progress outside loading his car.

"She does like to be in control, d-doesn't she?" Subaru noted to Zelgadiss. 

"Oh, yes, but sometimes we all have to assert ourselves. However, for me…it was not today. We have a long day ahead of us in very close quarters. So, I give a little now to gain hours of solitude later."

"You mean Miss Lina will leave you alone now?"

"She and Xelloss and Amelia…I will be untouchable after having made it through that unscathed relatively."

"Y-you mean…you don't really like Miss Amelia?"

"Oh, I like her fine. I like all these freaks. They're my friends, but I'm not going to let them ambush me with some tricky word games into embarrassing myself. It's a new skill I've just learned to pull off," Zel smiled. "This is going to be a good year. I can tell." 

Hokuto yelled, "Subaru! I can see his white van!"

"Oh!" Subaru dropped his towel. "Already? I-I am going to miss…all this tomorrow, I know. Thank you, Zelgadiss for becoming such a good friend to me!"

"Sure…And we'll see each other to pick up our schedules in a few weeks, right?" Zel said to the boy rushing out the door.

He watched the van pull up, and the tall, dark-aired man step out. Hokuto's little figure ran up and nearly jumped on him, while Subaru stood back, tentatively. He watch Seishirou pull himself away from the girl and come towards her brother, put an arm around his shoulders, and lead him back to the van, with Hokuto hanging on his other arm like a fungus. He remembered what Hokuto had said, about Subaru's unrequited…whatever it was. Yes, he could see that. He dreamed about him, after all. What had he said about cherry trees…and that Seishirou was wrong'? Oh, well. He shook his head to clear it. Those poor, demented kids and their strange ferryman—er, friend… What a soap opera they were! Almost as bad as his family, Zel chuckled. 

Yes, his family… the Slayers… et al…

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Nineteen. ~*~


	20. Chapter 20

Seyruun High Jinx Summer Special

****

The Slayers: **Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel**

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Twenty

  
"We're stoppin' at Filia's and that's that!" Val growled. He could overhear Xelloss and Gourry chattering about checking out the new place. Zelgadiss probably was in on it too, but he wasn't chattering. Inserting a few well-placed words now and then, was more like it from him. Val was a bit excited as well, but everything was starting to take a back seat to Filia, in his mind. It was even getting too hard for him to deny it anymore, so he didn't. He got mad instead.

"Val, it's been…a long few days." It was Lina's turn to start in now. "Don't get me wrong, Val I'd like to see Filia and all, but…" she leaned in close to his ear (not so much of a trick since she was sitting right behind him) and hissed, "I'm not sure how much more of a certain person's company I want to share, if you get my drift?"

Oh, he did. A little of Xelloss went a long way with him, too. In fact, Zelgadiss could tolerate Xelloss better than anyone else could, and even he nearly murdered the guy more than once after spending a bit more time in his company than was good for him. So, Val certainly knew what Lina was getting at. Didn't matter _none_; that is, not enough to turn from his intended path.

"Sorry, babe," he tossed at Lina for fun. "I got the wheel and this is my turn to choose our road. Sing: Fil-iiia! We're a'comin'!" 

Lina grumbled a bit but sat back, too worn out to argue further. 

"What you need is…lunch!" Amelia suggested a wee bit too brightly for Zelgadiss, sitting at her other side.

"Ah, gods…" he groaned. "I'm getting car sick already!" The thought of food was nauseating. He rarely got car sick, but he had mixed feelings of dread and expectation for the upcoming weeks before classes started. Moving in…new computers…meeting with his advisor—his and Xelloss' advisor—at the university…seeing if he remembered any of the bands songs for the upcoming Battle of the Bands, and if he tried harder he knew he could come up with a thousand more things to worry about. _Computers. They'd need those, too. Better make a list_. He took out his notepad, a new one he picked up at the beach, and mechanical pencil and wrote: 3 computers. He glanced out the window, then he added: desks, Xelloss' contacts, new strings for guitar, and Xelloss' drum set _ordered back before…the house burned down? That far back?_

"Mr. Zelgadiss?" he heard Amelia's plaintive voice call him out of his reverie. "Look, there's the settlement road. We're almost there!"

"Ah…yes we are." Zelgadiss put away his things and sat up a bit straighter. _The fresh air might help._

Val loped up to her door like he owned the place and knocked loudly. "I know yer in there…Open up! Er…Hello Mrs. Ul Copt. I didn't think anyone could hear me." He actually blushed a tiny bit at his preposterous presumption.

She opened the door just the same, with a smile and a chuckle. "Hello yourself, Val. Why don't you come on in and watch Quentin for me while I go tell Filia that you're here. Oh, I see the whole gang's here. Well, the more, the merrier!"

"Sometimes…" he muttered under his breath.

Soon 'the whole gang' was indeed there, taking turns playing with Filia's baby brother and watching him crawl around on the floor.

"You have to watch him all the time, now that he can move around on his own," Mrs. Ul Copt told them as she passed tall glasses filled with iced herbal tea to her guests. "If you're not careful he'll try and put anything he finds into his mouth!"

"Sounds like Lina," Zel muttered, then blushed when he noticed that he'd said it aloud.

"What was that?" Lina questioned her good friend. They hadn't been trading barbs and witty smart-aleck remarks lately and it was something she missed. "Were you offering to help Filia's mom out in the kitchen just now?"

Zel looked towards the older woman. She nodded, "If you'd like. Lunch will go much faster that way."

Zel sighed, and then stood up. _Might as well_.

The next thing he knew, he could hear raised voices in the front room—Lina and Filia's.

"All I said was…it wasn't like she did anything so terrible to deserve to get treated so badly," Filia was crying. "She wants us all to come to her birthday party and be friends again. And I think we should!"

Lina muttered something undecipherable for even Zel's extraordinary hearing to make out.

"Well, it's not like Xelloss was in love with her or anything!" _That was Filia again._ "You shuddup, Xelloss! You weren't and you know it! Why? How do I know it's true? 'Cause I know that you were in love with someone else, that's why! And you still are!"

"Aw, come on Filia," Lina drawled. "Kiki's been gone a long time. Don't start dredging up that old romance…And besides, this isn't just about…"

"Kiki?! Kiki?! Who's talking about Kiki?!" Filia screamed, interrupting Lina at the same time.

__

Well, the two of you are screeching about her…Zel shook his head. 

Xelloss was trying to silence them both with some sputtering of 'its okay…leave me out of this…I'll go to the party if you just stop…'

__

Too bad for you. They are not listening anyway. Just let them run your life and settle things…Zel smirked to himself as he stacked the assorted sandwiches on a platter.

__

"It's you, Lina! You! Xelloss is in love with you! He has been all year! Sylphiel knew that. She knew that and you must have, or you're blinder than he is without those stupid, dorky-looking glasses on!" Filia fumed.

Zel dropped the platter, scattering food all over the floor. "Oh joy…" he moaned aloud. "This just gets better and better."

Gourry skittered over to help Zel pick up the food. "Whatta way ta end the vacation, huh?" he asked Zel.

Lina, red-faced, sat blinking on the floor. Amelia, jumped into the fray to add her unwanted opinion, "You're just saying that 'cause he's never drooled over you like half the guys at school! There's no reason to try to hurt him or Lina over…what? What is it you want?"

That was a good point.

Xelloss sank deeper into the couch and pulled a pillow over his face with a whiny, "Don't mind meeee…"

Filia deflated a little. "While you guys were at the beach…having a great time…Sylphiel came to see me. I mean, we're still friends and all. She's really sad about losing you guys as friends and wants to make it up to you. If it's any consolation, she and Tarou Yamada are really nuts about one another. I think she's going to be happy with him. Like, it wasn't all just a stupid act on her part or anything."

Lina brushed away her bangs, which were in need of a trim and contributing to her irritability. "Make it up to us, how?" she asked.

"She's inviting us all to the shrine for her birthday, which is the same as mine, you know. There'll be food and…"

"Tarou what's-his-name will be there, I take it?" Lina asked.

"Naturally, Lina, he's going to stay there all year until they get married, I think that's the plan…" Filia settled into a chair and stared out the window. "I think she should be able to stay in the band, too."

Lina started to object, but Amelia stopped her. "I think so too! We need her in back-up in case…one of us can't sing or something."

Lina looked thoughtfully between the two other girls, then said, "Yeah? Well, we do have that band-battle contest coming up and we don't have time to re-tool our stuff…"

Zelgadiss added, "We hardly have time to practice as it is! Everything's stored at Amelia's, but…an amp might be dead or a cable broken, who knows?"

Lina blasted him with a withering glance, "Thanks for the encouraging words, Mr. Gloom-and-Doom. All right…we gotta practice tomorrow…Do I hear any objections?"

She had. Val, Xelloss (who had been extremely contrite for the past few minutes), and Zelgadiss were all pointing out at once that they had to get their house in order, such as it was, first. 

"I have to practice with the Suzaku Seven tonight!" Xelloss gasped. Up until that minute, he had completely forgotten his promise to temporarily stand in for Nuriko .

A severe look from Lina brought him up immediately. "B-but I can make our practice as well."

"Car!" Zelgadiss said unexpectedly.

"Car," Lina repeated with the barest hint of disgust. "How 'bout… 'dust'…or…'snog-warts'? Damnit, Zel, contribute to the process here!"

He removed his notebook from his pocket and his pencil, then added to his list: Car, two. He snapped it shut and met Lina's gaze. "Xelloss and I need a way to get back and forth from the university to the high school since the local-funding cuts have eliminated the bus transportation. Our classes there start next week, or had you forgotten?" He gave Lina a little twisted smile.

Xelloss groaned, "Nooooooooooooooo…"

Lina actually softened at the news, "Oh…yeah. That's kinda rough for ya, huh?"

Val, who had been pacing like a caged lion all this time, grunted, "Guess we gotta go…"

"We should eat first," Gourry reminded them. He looked from the messy platter to Lina.

"I'll take those and toss them out," Zel offered, reaching for the platter of fallen food from his place on the floor.

"No you won't!" Lina said sharply. "That's my lunch!"

"But it was on the floor…" Zel began, and then shrugged. "Heh, like I said before, you have the eating habits of a baby…" But one look at Lina's hungry, angry face caused him to clamp up. She was in no mood for teasing.

"Well," Zelgadiss sighed as he stood from his kneeling position. "I'm not interested in food. You go ahead. I need to take Beast for a walk…I'll be back shortly, then if you want to go, just tell me." And with that, he left the house.

The walk must have done him some good as well as relieved the old wolf dog, because when he returned to Filia's house, he was whistling a tune and almost smiling.

"Zel?" Lina called out as the door opened. "Was that you? I didn't know you could whistle?"

"Really? Well, I guess there **are** a few things you don't know about me then," he smirked her way. Of course, he had just mastered the art of whistling recently, but there was no reason to tell her that and give her the satisfaction of knowing that she actually did know everything about him that he did. "So, are we leaving?"

"Yeah, Val and Filia should be back any sec. They're off talkin' to Milgasia. Amelia took Xelloss out for a stroll. Beast could probably track them down."

Zel looked at the sleeping dog at his feet then at Lina, "You say that now, but I think he's out for an hour at least. I'm getting some tea."

"I'll have some too, then," Lina said. "And while you're at it…"

"Yes, yes…I'll find a little something to go with it," Zel sighed tragically, then dragged his feet dramatically out to the kitchen.

While filling the teapot with water at the sink, Zel noticed Xelloss and Amelia walking about the back yard. Xelloss seemed to be agitated and Amelia reassuring. "Good," he thought aloud. "Let him open up to her for a change. She could use a challenge like him. Besides, they deserve one another." He froze. What kind on nonsense was he thinking? A cold chill ran down his spine. No. No, he was not pairing up two friends simply talking together. "What kind of mindless idiot am I turning into now?"

"I dunno, but you sure are taking a long time with that tea!" Lina snapped by his ear.

He jumped a foot and spewed an oath or two, "Gahhh!" What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?"

"What are you doing snooping on them, huh?" she grinned and titled her head toward the couple out the window. It was so satisfying to get his goat! 

Zel blushed slightly and tended to the tea making process. "I wasn't 'snooping'. I looked up and they were there. A-and the tea water only boils so fast. I have nothing to do with that."

"Geesh, sooo defensive," Lina patted his arm. "Where the cookies? There gotta be some someplace."

"In the cookie jar." Zel pointed to a large ceramic tub.

"Oh, yeah sure. Hide 'em in a…what the hell do ya think this ugly thing is?" Lina looked at the thing dubiously.

"A Dragon."

"Dragon?" Lina sniffed. "I suppose. So, you really have lots to do, eh?"

"Yes. More than I care to think about, so I've resorted to writing things down as they occur to me. I'll just drag Val and Xelloss around and see that they get what they need as well. It'll all get done, but the bloom of summer is off the rose, as they say," he lowered his head and poured two cups of tea. "Sugar? Er, ah…honey, I guess is what they have here."

"Yeah, why not?" Lina smiled and helped herself to a couple brown heaping spoonfuls, then stuck the sticky spoon in her mouth. "Ya know, Zel, you're a pretty nice guy, despite yer tough luck."

He smiled, but couldn't meet her eyes.

"I'll miss you, er you guys, around school this year," she added.

"Yeah? Well, I plan to be there for lunch and the rest of the day, so don't go getting too misty-eyed," he chuckled.

Lina whapped him on the arm as she yelled, "Misty-eyed? I'll give you misty-eyed!" She punched him a few more times, without any real malice, before he took her pile of cookies and held them out of her reach. "Hey!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he had seen Gourry waking up from his slumber and now, entering the kitchen. Zel gauged the distance, and then flung the cookies at him with a shout. "Catch, Gourry!"

"Whoa, cookies! Thanks, man!"

"Those were miiiiiine!" Lina wailed. She flew to Gourry and tried to grab them out of his hand. Too late. He easily held her off with one huge hand while cramming the last of the crumbs into his mouth with the other.

"Got any more there, Zel?"

"In the jar. Help yourself. The Dragon one. Ah, speaking of dragons…here comes Val and the deadly Dragon Lady herself," Zel smirked.

"She sure's got it in fer Xelloss," Gourry remarked. He reached in for a handful, passing Lina a few to replace the ones he had eaten.

"Sensitive as that ice mallet she likes to hit him with," Zel noted. He was staying away from the obviously uncomfortable romance topics. There was nothing he could say to help; there was no denying Xelloss' feelings for Lina, but Gourry wore his feelings on his sleeve as well—and then there was Lina's own opinions. "So, we're all going to Sylphiel's birthday party, correct?"

"Filia's too," Gourry added. "What should we get them?"

"How about a big box of tact, sensitivity and something interesting for them to talk about for a change?" Zel asked.

"They sell that?" Gourry asked with a smile.

"Not that I've seen, but...it's a thought."

Meanwhile, Xelloss and Amelia were having a heart-to-heart outside.

"Her parents must take the teaching offers from the University this year. She says they would like to find a house to buy, but they're so particular! They really would like to stay in the area near her uncle's shop, Polly's Pies. Oh…of course you remember the place, Mr. Xelloss! In Kiki's last e-mail, things were starting to get desperate!"

Xelloss had been teasing her a bit by pretending not to remember his previous neighborhood, but then he had a clever idea. "Would they consider building their own house, do you think?" Xelloss asked.

"Well, I think so, but there's no place in that neighborhood. You know-- you lived there! Everything's all built up!" Amelia said.

"Not _my_ lot," he smiled.

Her eyes widened with understanding. "Oh, Mr. Xelloss! Do you think you'd sell the place where you once lived…to Kiki's family? That would be wonderful! Wouldn't it? They'll have to rent something temporarily, of course, but then…she'd be so close! Oh, Mr. Xelloss, I could kiss you!" she cried jubilantly.

"Er, ah…not with Mr. Zelgadiss looking out the window," Xelloss laughed at her blush. She had turned to look, then saw that he wasn't really there, before registering Xelloss' prank.

"You!" she said, still blushing but smiling at herself as well. "I shouldn't let you tease me so!"

"I can't help it," he smiled, purple eyes glittering. "I like pretty girls."

"Now you're flirting! You are just _awful_!" she said in mock annoyance. "So, can I write her tonight and say you have an offer to make?"

He flipped out his cell phone, "Why not give her a call and find out if they're interested at all? That way I can call a realtor and see what a reasonable price would be…Never mind…tell them they can **have** it…Zelas owed them that much, and more…I'm sure…"

"Are you sure?!" Amelia gasped. "They can't turn that down, I bet! Oh, Mr. Xelloss, you really are a sweet guy!"

"Just watch your teeth, then," he smiled and started punching in the overseas number, by memory. "That is…if you're still set on kissing me!" He giggled.

"_Mr._ _Xelloss_!"

"Okay, Val, I'll apologize…but to Lina only," Filia said as they turned up the walk back to her house. "Everything I said was true. That--Xelloss somehow convinced Lina that his feelings were soooo hurt that she blew up. I wouldn't say this to anyone else, but I think Lina likes Xelloss back but doesn't know what to do about it, especially with Gourry and Zelgadiss after her as well. Well, that's just what I think…I don't know that as a fact. But, like, Gourry must be relieved to have Sylphiel not hanging on him any more. Now he's just got to send that--Xelloss packing…Zel won't get in his way, I'm certain…He's into that 'honor' crap like Gourry…Val?"

Val had been listening, grunting every so often when she paused for air. What those other guys did or didn't do wasn't of much concern to him. "Oh, yeah…whatever. I, um…wrote a poem…for you…kinda. Would you like to hear it?" 

Damn. He wasn't going to do that, but when she turned her big blues on him like that, his brain went to mush and he said the only thing that came to mind.

"A poem? For me?" Her expression yielded to one of contentment. "Oh, read it please?"

"Um, sure…ah…it's not really all that good, but I was sitting by the fire and thinking about …how much I wished you coulda been there too, ya know?" he muttered and withdrew the little book and read. When he was finished, he looked down at her face. She was smiling, happy. Score one for his mushed brain!

"So will you guys all have new phone numbers or share one?" Filia asked him as they entered the house.

"If the phone company got their act together, we should have the same number as we had at Xelloss' place, for the kitchen and answering service. We still got our cell phones," Val told her.

"Good, I don't think I know how to re-program my cell phone," she frowned at it as she dumped the batteries into the re-charger and slipped in fresh ones.

"I do," he said in a low voice by her ear. "I'm getting' real good at tech-nol-o-gee. We gotta go out fer new computers tomorrow, or mebbe tonight, if we got time. I want a CD burner fer doin' music downloads."

"Good idea!" Lina said as she, Gourry, and Zel joined them in the front room. "Ya wanna DVD player to watch stuff in private, too, I betcha!" She gave Val a wink and a cackling laugh.

"If we're going to do that tonight," Zel grumbled, "We'd better find out what Xelloss' schedule is with the singing seven. The store is open to ten, but who knows how late he'll be practicing."

At that moment, Amelia flew into the house, dragging Xelloss by the hand. "You'll never guess what _we_ just did!"

"Ah…" gulped Gourry.

Zel responded tersely, "I wouldn't try…" 

Filia snorted, "I hope it's not what I'm thinking!"

Val leaned back against the wall, folded his arms and waited.

"Whatever, just tell us and let's get goin'," Lina said with little interest.

Amelia explained the call to her friend in France while the others collected their things and the dog for their return home. "They said they'll talk it over and let us know right away! Won't that be wonderful having Kiki back at school again?!"

They all agreed to that, agreed to a practice, agreed to go to the birthday parties, agreed to talk later, and agreed to go now!

"Val?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you drop me near the university?"

"Sure, but don't ya wanna see the house first?" Val shot a quick look over at Xelloss in the passenger seat beside him.

"I'd better be on time. I promised Tasuki…"

"Yeah, sure. You gonna want ta do the computer stop later?"

"Yep!" Xelloss smiled. "I have some things in mind that I want. Yeah, here's okay. Stop here. I'll meet you here at 8:00, okay?"

"Call if yer can't," Val answered, and then he drove off. "Think that was a good idea? Me just leaving him there?"

Zel nodded. "He's all grown up now, Val. Besides…" he cleared his throat, "Hotohori has a studio for practices close by. He's going there and will be fine."

Val smirked knowingly at Zel, "Heh, heh…I thought you'd have it all checked out ahead of time." 

Try as he liked, Zel couldn't pretend not to care about his friend's welfare—and get away with it. There was no fooling them anymore.

~*~

The next afternoon, the three boys were still hooking up hardware and testing Internet connections. Zel broke to fix them lunch, and then nailed a calendar up on the wall by the telephone in the kitchen. When Val and Xelloss settled down to eat, he pointed it out. 

"Put everything on this and we can keep track of life. For instance, practice in an hour at Amelia's goes on…as does shopping for food…" Zel began.

"My eye appointment…" Xelloss noted with a big eye drawing surrounded by eyelashes. "Observe the little cat-eye drawing I made? I'm going for _those_ contacts this time!"

"As does car shopping…" Zel continued, ignoring the 'cat eye' for the time being.

"Cars? Want some help?"

"Thanks, Val. I could use some advice," Zel said. "So we'd better get started tonight, eh?"

"Can you drop me at…" Xelloss pulled out a card with smudged writing on it. "…Bell hall on campus at 8:00? My first gig with the SS!"

Zel looked at him, "So soon? Scratch the car. I want to see this. Lina and…everyone else will, too. Why didn't you say something?"

Xelloss shrugged. "I'll see if there are tickets left, okay? So, what kind of car do you want?"

Zel shook his head, "I have no idea. Something…economical, but not too small."

"Adequate and modest," said Xelloss. "Just like its owner."

"Uh…I was doin' some thinkin'," Val said to cut off the other line of attack. "We oughta work out a di-vi-sion of labor. Like…I do laundry and Zel cooks and you, Xelloss, clean, or somethin'. Or is that not hip enough?"

"No, that's a great idea," Zel began.

"But!" Xelloss said hastily. "Why don't we do those two jobs together for awhile?"

Val's eyes narrowed, "You don't think I can wash stuff to meet yer high standards?"

"Noooo," Xelloss smiled. "I _know_ you can't! It may not matter to you, all your things are basic black. Mine, however, come in many shades and colors and I'd like to keep then that way…my sheets in particular."

Zel agreed, but said in a conciliatory tone, "Cross training will circumvent arguments later. But I have another suggestion to make. How about we clean our own bedrooms and bathrooms, I'll handle buying and cooking food, you guys can trade off on the wash and the other cleaning—including the kitchen floor. That leaves the yard work to be shared on weekends. Which means, Val, if you're going to the settlement for the weekend, we'll have to do it mid week or something. How does that sound?"

"Like too much work…" Val moaned. "But I might live."

"Too bad we don't have that hot tub to soak in any more…" Xelloss sighed.

Val's eyes lit up, "Who says we can't have one put in? You have the number fer the dude who helped with the deck job at the old place, Xelloss?"

Xelloss pulled out his wallet and thumbed through the cards.

Zel flipped over a piece of mail and began to draw. "The back yard's shaped like this. You could put a hot tub here…"

"Bigger…yeah…and decking…a place to change. What the hell, a bathroom too!" Val chuckled. He was getting into the scheme now. "I liked the barbecue thing and tables…"

"Lights, hammock, fountain, some raised flower beds…" Xelloss pointed out where he'd like those. "And plenty of shade. Here's the guy's card. Give him a call and show him the picture. He did a great job before with a lot less to go on and next to no time. Of course, this may take longer since he'll need an electrician and plumber. Maybe Mr. Gabriev can help us?"

"Yeah," Val said. He closed his eyes and pictured it all done. "Gotta do it before winter…" 

"Fine, well, I'm cleaning up this then we have a practice to go to. Oh, and one more thing, Xelloss: that thank you dinner for the Gabriev's… We need to make arrangements for that," Zel said.

"In process, my man," Xelloss smiled. "I'm working on that as we speak!"

"Oh, which reminds me, Amelia called to say the drum set was delivered to her place when we were at the beach. How did they know to take it there?" Zel asked.

Val smiled, "I called 'em and told 'em I wasn't gonna make it back to work and they asked about it. I paid Dan to deliver it fer us. Okay?"

Xelloss nodded, "One less thing for me to worry about."

"What about the purple set?" Val asked.

"I'm giving it to Joey, plus some lessons thrown in," Xelloss answered. "I have an idea for a song to do and I'll need a drummer stand in—hopefully he'll work out."

"Have you cleared that with his mom?" Zel asked. "Drums are noisy, Xelloss."

"Well, no, but…I will!" Xelloss smiled confidently.

Zel dried his hands on a kitchen towel, the only one. "See this?" he waved a yellow tablet in the air for all to see. "I'm making a list of stuff we need to pick up on the way home. Like…dog food and more towels…"

"TP!" both Val and Xelloss shouted.

"Yes, that too. I'll take this with us and if you think of anything else, write it down. It'll be a few weeks until we get this place really fixed up."

"Wow, its just like a home with a mommy and a daddy to take care of me," Val howled with laughter.

Xelloss frowned and looked at Zel, who looked back at him. Which was the 'mommy' and which was the 'daddy'? They both said simultaneously, "Not me!"

"Come on, we'll be late," Val said. "And you know how mean ole Aunt Lina hates that, _Paw_!"

They clamored out of their house with Val coughing and hacking over his not-so-funny joke. Regardless, it was a terrific house. Built to suit them all and tastefully decorated. It would become their home truly in no time. 

~*~

Val picked up Gourry and Lina on the way to Amelia's place, where they would have an hour of hard work settling up their new practice room. Lina left 'the boys to their toys' dragging Amelia off to talk privately about the upcoming party before Filia and Sylphiel showed up.

"What if we just **not** put this drum together now and I'll getcher better hardware later?" Val suggested to Xelloss. "Ya don't gotta bang on every one of them today, right?"

"No…okay," Xelloss agreed unhappily. He ran a hand through his messy hair and kicked at the rejected part.

"Things happen. Man-u-fac-too-ers screw up all the time; send crap. The store will fix ya up good," Val reminded him. "I could mess with the old kit and salvage a piece or two that might work for an attachment…"

"No!" Xelloss shouted, then felt bad to have blown up over such a minor detail. "No, that's okay. Sorry, Val, I'm just touchy, I guess. I really want to give Joey the old set complete and set it up for him. And…you're right, I don't even need that tom-tom at all."

Val stared at Xelloss a moment. "The Seven giving you a hard time at the practice?"

"No! Yes…kinda…" Xelloss answered uncertainly. "I'm not the singer Nuriko is, I know it, but…I expected his solos to be dropped, but Hotohori was…harsh in his criticisms. I think he had some other guy in mind instead of me but he hadn't worked out. I know I can memorize the words and dance steps I don't know, but I can't become a great singer over night!" Having said that, Xelloss felt a bit better. "Tasuki wants me to do more dancing, though, so that's something. One vote of confidence!"

Val shook his head. So did Gourry who had overheard the conversation. "They shoulda been nicer to you. Ya don't haveta do this for'em. Ass-saving doesn't have ta be on yer _re-su-may_!"

Gourry agreed, "How many shows did ya say you'd do?"

"I called Nuriko last night, while I was waiting to be picked up. He's able to talk some and…just one more after tonight is my guess. But…I said I'd do what was needed. I shouldn't quit on them, in spite of the Emperor's problems with me…"

"Yeah, that's right, but Lina won't let ya do it, if she knew all that," Gourry said.

"If I knew all what?" Lina asked as she and Amelia picked their way through the room littered with equipment and half strung cables.

"That Hoto-guy's not treatin' Xelloss very good, after he's tried to do what he should," Gourry stated gravely.

"Oh yeah?" Lina's eyes burned with indignation.

"He's just hypercritical, Lina," Xelloss insisted. He didn't want her to tear off and defend him to the _enemy_. "I'll do fine tonight and he'll have nothing to worry about… then he'll be okay. It just wasn't like…our band's comradely sessions… and friendship."

She shrugged. "I'll see for myself tonight. You got us all tickets, right?"

" 'Cause ya know we'll all scream loudest for you!" Amelia cried out. "You'll be the best. I know it!"

"Um, thank you, Amelia," he smiled. "But you don't have to do that."

"So how is the house? And when do I get to come over and check it out?" Lina asked with a slap to the back of Xelloss' head.

He made a grab at the offending hand, twisted her around, and yanked her to his side as if they were dancing. "Now, if you want," he said softly.

Lina pushed him away, slapping at his hands. It was all over in a few seconds and no one else noticed. "Not on your life! We've got a practice ta get goin' here. Zel? You got the gear set up yet?" Her voice was strident to hide her embarrassment. 

Xelloss was not letting up. In fact, he was getting more blatant about how he felt all the time. And confident. She liked him better when he was more of an observer and less of a participant. Well, no…not that exactly…but definitely she preferred him to be less forward. He made her feel…uncomfortable, yes, that's the word. Why couldn't he be more like Zel and bottle up his emotions? Or like Gourry and have fewer? Now what? What was keeping those guys? "Grrrr…." 

Zel was messing with his amp and not paying her any heed. Val was fiddling with his synthesizer…no, tuning Gourry's guitar. How much longer did they need?

"Ah, Lina?"

"What?!" she barked at Xelloss.

"Amelia carried in some ice tea. I brought you a glass. You look…hot."

Lina cast him a piercing look. His expression looked innocent enough, she guessed, and so she took the glass with a nod and spared his life.

"Yeah, well…back off. I'm hot _and _ticked!" She blasted him with another flaming stare, and then stalked over to see if she could stir up some action in the music department

Zel strummed a few cords then announced, "Ready, enough," without even looking up into Lina's flashing eyes. "Would you like to pick the starting number?"

"Yeah sure," Lina thought for a moment then said, "Give a Reason."

As they started the instrumental midpoint, Filia and Sylphiel knocked lightly at the open door, found places to stand and join in the chorus the final time through.

A couple more songs and they were getting back their rhythm and it felt terrific! This was what had brought them all together and provided them the most pleasure, as a group; the Slayers band live.

Lina was satisfied. "That sounded really great—considering we haven't played together in…weeks. Gourry, you were right on the money, as usual. Zel, was that a new riff I heard? Yeah, I was listenin'! Val, ya fixed up that one part that made the instrumental part kinda mushy. Sounded terrific! Xelloss? You been practicing on the sly? Mebbe it was the knew kit, but you've gotten better, I think. And girls? It's good to have ya all back."

They all stared at her in shock. Lina complimenting them?

"Uh…thanks, Lina," Gourry said, and then smiled. "The break was good fer us, I guess."

"Yeah, it was," her eyes gleamed. "And speaking of breaks…What kinda food is around here, Amelia? Time for a _short_ break!"

"I'll go get some things!" Amelia cried out. "Mr. Zelgadiss? Miss Sylphiel? Can you help me carry stuff?"

When Lina called for a break, Filia pulled out her hair cutting tools and presented them to Xelloss. "You haven't asked lately, but I know those bangs are bothering you, at least the way you keep messing with them is bothering _me_."

"My, my…" he smiled and tipped his head slightly. "We mustn't have that, must we?" 

As she narrowed her eyes to try to think of some clever retort, he added, "Actually that's very thoughtful of you, Filia. Thanks. It hasn't had the right kind of care lately. You know…" he perched himself onto his drum throne awaiting Filia's next move. "I used to wash and condition it twice a day, but this summer… days have passed with nary a comb out."

Her expression was confusing, so he added quickly, "B-but I showered last night so it's clean now!"

"That's a relief to know," Filia said seriously, then laughed, "Just kidding, Xelly. I actually had a few days where my hair must have looked terrible, too. Good thing friends can ignore stuff like that, right? Now, let's get you looking your best before you go on stage tonight."

Xelloss had to blink twice to make sure that it was really Filia and not some lovely replacement girl who had just shown so much sensitivity toward him. "Ah…yesss."

~*~

"Where are all these people when WE have concerts?" Lina yelled, though since she and everyone else had hands over their ears to avoid deafening from the screeching crowd, she didn't really expect an answer.

"ALL girls," Zel noticed. He had earplugs in addition to his hand ear-coverings, so that he wouldn't have another relapse of hearing problems. He wanted to support his friend, but that didn't mean he had to damage himself in the process. "In case there was any question whether the Suzaku Seven are a 'boy band'."

"Hey, we've got hotter guys then those sissies, and we don't got this many squealing girlies!" Val grunted. 

"Well, we've got guy- fans, too!" Gourry pointed out.

"That's 'cause you have pretty little me!" Lina put in with a wink. "They've just got Nuriko." 

"And tonight, they've got Xelloss. So, when his solo part comes, you've gotta cheer for him real loud, so he can hear us!" Amelia informed them.

"Right, right. Wouldn't he like it better if no one noticed him? I mean, if he screws up or somethin'."

"He's not gonna screw up, Val!" Lina kicked him in the shins, since she had no hands free to punch him with. "He's gonna do great, and he's going to really need our support, okay? So you can be peppy for once in your life. It's not like anyone here will recognize you!"

As if on cue (what in their lives wasn't?), someone tapped Val on the shoulder.

"Hey, man. Never thought I'd see you at a concert like this!" Sano laughed.

"A concert like this?" the beautiful Megumi huffed, punching his arm. "'Like this' what?"

"It's…just not my man Val's style, missy," Sano covered for his slip-up. 

"Uh…Yo, Sano…" Val choked.

"Hey!" Lina greeted him. "What's up? What are YOU doing here?" 

"I'm, well," Sano looked a little sheepish. "Megumi really likes these guys—she's done some repair work on 'em, actually, and so she likes to go to their concerts. What's yer excuse?" he grinned.

"Oh, Xelloss is their Nuriko-substitute, 'cause the king of drag is out sick," Lina explained. "So we're the Xelloss-crew today."

"Okay, that's acceptable," Sano laughed, "Just, you guys…don't tell Kenshin I was here, okay?" he begged. "I'd never live it down!"

"Okay," they promised. "As long as you don't tell nobody that I was here, _capice_?" Val added, with an extra glare for Lina.

"Okay, see ya 'round, then," Sano waved. "The show's about ta start!"

And it never seemed to end. If they hadn't been sick of the Suzaku boys after touring with them, they were now. Dazzling lights, crooning voices, flashy dance-steps, and canned music—it was enough to make any level head spin. Good thing that none of the Slayers quite fit that description any more…

They cheered for Xelloss loud enough to over-power any antipathy from Nuriko-fans, hopefully. He looked good enough to fit in with them, and his dancing was almost up-staging. That was why 'the emperor' had been so hard on him—he was jealous! All the pieces came together… Zel smiled, despite the mind-numbing sap bombarding his ears. The truth always reveals itself, despite our best efforts to hide it… 

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Twenty. ~*~


	21. Chapter 21

Seyruun High Jinx Summer Special

**The Slayers:** **Lina   Zelgadiss  Xelloss  Gourry  Amelia  Val  Filia  Sylphiel**

~*~    Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special!    ~*~

Part Twenty-one

            The next afternoon, Val watched as Xelloss and Zel linked up the three new computers to share the Internet over the new broadband cabling.  He had tinkered with his computer already so it proudly displayed a dark, menacing screen saver.

            "Done!"  Zel said with a sigh.

            "Now for the true test, Zelgadiss," Xelloss said.  He madly typed on the other computer and shouted gleefully, "Mine's up.  Try yours!"

            Val watched what Zel did then left Xelloss' room to bang away at his own keyboard until he was on the Internet as well.  "Yo, Zel!  Now, how do I find my mail account?"

            Xelloss was busy typing for the next half hour, so when Val was satisfied that his computer and him were in harmony once again, Zel entered the kitchen to throw together some late lunch.  He still needed to get that car taken care of somehow…

            "Hey guys?"  he broached the subject, food in hand.  "Xelloss has his eye appointment in a bit and I was wondering…Val?  Would you come with me to look over cars?"

            "Cars?"  Val looked away from his terminal and sandwich long enough to answer.  "Yeah, sure.  After I eat?"

            Zel nodded then checked with Xelloss.  "You cool with that?  You do your eye thing while we look at cars.  Anything interesting and we'll take you back to look too, all right?  Good.  We leave in…"

            "Three minutes and forty-five seconds.  Got it!"  Xelloss smiled.

            "Three minutes and forty-**seven** seconds," Zel corrected him, and went back to the kitchen to clean up.  "Oh, Xelloss?  You talk to the Gabriev's about that dinner we're doing for them?  Oh?  TONIGHT?!  Thanks for giving me such a long notice!  I certainly have no need of any lead time to plan, shop for, and prepare…"

            "Calm down, Zelgadiss.  You don't have to do anything.  I said I'd take care of everything, and I did…reservations are for 7:30 at Chez Pere…tie and jackets required."

            Zel shivered with the rapid release of tension.  "Oh…well…good.  That's taken care of then…All I have to do is change clothes…ah…thanks…"

            "Time to trot!"  Xelloss chortled through the house on his way out the door.

            "He's in a good mood," Val pointed out unnecessarily.  "Which can only mean…"

            "…That he's up to something," Zel finished for him.  "Let's go.  Thinking about it will only make it worse, you know."

            "Worse?  Worse than what?  Worse like…gettin' our house burned down and losin' everythin' we own?"

            "Maybe."  Zel punched Val in the back to get him to move out the door.  "But not worse than losing your head."

            "If I lost my head, I wouldn't have to think about it anymore."  Val growled a bit then left the house for his car where Xelloss was already climbing into the back.

            "Good point.  Can you think of anything you'd rather lose and feel _better_?"

"My temper?"

            "Too short term.  You have to think…futures and… internationally, these days," Zel smiled and fell into the front passenger seat.

            "What?  Like foreign money?  I've gotta lose somethin' I value, but maybe don't even got yet, somewhere's far off…just to feel good?  Yer nuts too, Zel-baby!"  Val huffed and started the car.  "So, where's the eye doctor?"

            "Forth star to the right and straight on till morning!"  Xelloss howled from the back.

            "Ah, shit…yer full of it, too!"

            An hour later, Xelloss flew out of the office breathless, "Val?  Zelgadiss?  Hey, look…what do you think?"

            "Ya still got two of them," Val noted.

            "Two?  Oh_!  Eyes_!  How clever you are!"  Xelloss giggled.  "No, look closer!"

            "I'd rather not…"  Zel muttered.  Unfortunately, he had no choice.  The moment he opened his eyes next, a very strange pair of purple ones were merely inches from his own.  "Gaaaaaaaaah!  Xelloss back off!  Gods!  What's with your eyes?"

            "Cool huh?"

            Val moved in for a closer look.  "Yer pupils are slits, not round…no shit…"

            "I always wanted these contacts and now, what with countless piles of money wasting away in my parents' coffers…all for me to spend of frivolous trinkets and trendy knick-knacks…" Xelloss left off, distracted by the office staff to sign his credit card statement. 

            "Well…now we know," Val said in a low voice. 

            "Perhaps.  It could be just the beginning," warned Zel, who knew Xelloss best of all.  "I think more is to come, but that's just me.  Mr. Gloom and Doom."

            "So?  How did you guys fair?"  Xelloss asked giddily.  "Find yourself a car yet?"

            "I think so.  Want a look?"  Zel offered.

            "Yeah, but I don't think a car is for me right now.  I can always borrow one of yours, right?"

            Val nodded and Zel sighed and they all followed a lady carrying a runny-nosed tot out the door.  

Zel, to everyone's utter shock, chose a sleek, silver sports car.  A convertible to boot.  Nothing practical or modest.  Or cheap.

Later that evening, the boys dressed to kill…

"And I bet you expect me to squeeze into that tiny little cramped back seat?"  Xelloss whined.  

Val was already in the only comfortable passenger seat and Zel was yanking on fingerless driving gloves.  "Yes, and be quiet about it!"  Zel said to his best friend.

"But I'll wrinkle my best suit!"

"Stretch out your legs along the entire seat.  That's right…sit sideways.  Such a clever boy, Xelloss!"  Zel ribbed him a little.

"Asshole!"  Xelloss grumbled.  "You got this knowing I can't drive a stick-shift!"

"You can learn."

"Yeah, I learned your nickname!"

Zel shot his hand around and punched his friend, "I'll give _you_ one…"  But it was a half-hearted threat.  He was in too good a mood right then to care, and he was just kidding around…and he knew Xelloss was too…and he knew Xelloss knew…and Xelloss knew that he knew—like brothers...

The dinner was intended to thank Gourry and his parents for all they'd done for them.  

Val made a heart-felt speech pointing out the terrific job they'd done on their house in their absence.  "The place is…like new.  Perfect.  I know my momma woulda liked it and it's like a dream comin' true fer me.  Now we wanna put on a deck and hot tub and stuff out back."

Xelloss thanked them from his heart as well for allowing their son to come to his aid.  "I don't know from where you draw your strength, but it must have cost a lot you to just let him…help him take off, to face life-threatening danger like you did.  If you hadn't…  If you'd stopped my friends…I know I wouldn't be here to thank you tonight."

Zelgadiss spoke of his long friendship with Gourry, their combined suffering and of Gourry's valor and steadfastness throughout all their insane adventures.  "And through it all you've been my surrogate family.  Mrs. Gabriev is like a mother to us all these days.  I know you've refused monetary reimbursement from us, but remember…we'll always be grateful."

The rest of the evening was less somber as the food arrived and the conversations picked up.  The kids spoke of their plans, short term only.  Nothing past the start of school.  They had found by past experience that their futures were just too uncertain to set their hearts on a firm plan.  Graduation.  That was it.  Well, sorta…

Gourry mentioned the birthday party coming up, "We gotta get them somethin'.  Val?  You know Filia better than me.  What so you think?"

Val actually blushed at the question, then mumbled, "We'll talk later, dude."

"There's the Battle of the Bands Lina's roped us all into doing," Zel muttered.

"Speaking of bands," Xelloss said.  "Nuriko's going to be ready for their next gig, sooooo I'm off the hook!"

"Thank the Gods," Zel chuckled.  "Don't get me wrong.  You did great, but I don't think I could have sat through another one of their teeny-bopper concerts."

"Tell me about it!"  Xelloss gasped.  "It was just _awful_ when all those girls came screaming and squealing over for an autograph.  I don't know if I could have taken it much longer!"  He made a overly dramatic mock faint, then straightened out giggling.

"I was referring to the music," Zel said in a clipped manner.

Xelloss stuck out his tongue.  "Kiki's moving back," Xelloss announced, pulling that tidbit out of thin air.  "Her parents are going to build on the lot…where the house burned down."  He turned to Mr. Gabriev to add, "I gave them your company's number, and a recommendation."

Zel shot him an anxiety-filled look, and then glanced in Val's direction.  Val said nothing, but nodded and returned to telling Mrs. Gabriev about his backyard ideas.  Maybe it was all in _his_ head.  Maybe _he_ should just sit back and relax.  Maybe Xelloss could make it on his own.  Maybe it was _Zelgadiss_ that needed to see a shrink for _his_ over-active angst!

Mr. Gabriev talked at length about house designs and good planning from the start.  He would enjoy meeting Kiki's family, too, should they call him.

"Ah, have you ever built a production studio…for music?"  Xelloss asked him, changing the subject on him for the fifteenth time.

Zel heard that and turned to listen.  What _now_?

"Well, no, but it's not difficult.  Why?" the older man asked.

"I'm scouting around for a location to build one and when I do, I have some ideas for what I'd like.  Our last visit to Macross Studios in Atlas City taught me one thing: I can do better!"  Xelloss smiled.

"Oh, joy…" Zel had tried to suppress that, but it had simply escaped, probably with his will to live and Xelloss' mind…  At least now he had a better idea what Xelloss had flying and banging around inside that messed-up head of his.  Not bad things, thankfully.  So why did Zel feel like he had been through hell and back already that evening?  Oh, yeah…he was having dinner out with Xelloss.  Of course…and everything was just getting back on course…what course was that, though?

"It's the dessert course!"  Xelloss chortled with glee.  "Of course!"

Zel stared at him.  He hadn't said anything aloud.  Maybe he does read minds?

Mrs. Gabriev looked over the boys at the table and smiled.  Such good boys they were after all.  Her son had good judgment in friends.  "So…Xelloss.  Tell me.  Are you going back to work at the shrine?"

"Ah…yes…but I haven't called to tell them my plans.  I know the first thing I'll be asked about is my schedule.  Which…Zelgadiss?"

"Yes?"

"Do we start on Monday…at the university?"

"Yes.  Summer vacation is over tomorrow for us, I'm afraid."

"That's too bad," Mrs. Gabriev commiserated.  "But it will only be in the mornings, correct?  So you can still have fun after lunch together next week."

"Fun.  What's that?"  Zel whispered.

"Zelgadiss Greywords!"  Gourry's mother snapped.  "You can't begin to tell me you don't have fun with your friends!"

He smiled a bit embarrassed, "I do…I bought a car today…"

Gourry perked up, "Yeah?  Is it outside?  Ya gotta show me!"

Zel had already collected the bill and paid it, so they could go anytime.  Gourry's father stood and pulled out the chair for his wife.  "Well, thank you boys for the nice dinner.  Gourry, go on out and look, then meet us back at our car, all right son?"

"Yeah, thanks!"  Gourry loped up to Zelgadiss and said, "Is it out front or in the back?"

Val chuckled, "Don't get too excited, dude.  You won't even be able to fit in it!"

"He's going to teach me to drive it," Xelloss smiled.  He watched Zel shyly open up his new car and show Gourry the inside.

"I-I don't know why," Zel was explaining.  "I've never spent money on anything so…"

"It's okay, Zel," Gourry said to reassure him. He eased first one, then the other long leg into the confined space, and then settled into the soft, subtle leather seat.   "You've the right to have whatever ya want, and not haveta justify it ta me or anyone.  Ya know, I wouldn't trade my life fer yers even for this car…but I'd think about it!"  Gourry let out a small laugh.  

Zel relaxed.  "No, even I wouldn't if I was given the choice."

"You can go fer those treatments now…for the scars?  If you wanna…" Gourry said softly.

"I know.  I'm just not sure I want my cure anymore.  I'm getting used to this being me.  Does that make sense to you?"  Zel asked.

"Sure does!  Ya got that 'elf' thing goin' fer ya now," Gourry chuckled.

            "Hey!  Are you going to sit there all night?"  Val asked.  "I have things to do!"

            "Oh, well, bye.  See ya later…practice!"  Gourry unfolded himself from the car, waved, and moved off to find his folks. 

            Zel started the car and rubbed his hands over the steering wheel in a caress.

            "So, where're we goin'?"  Val grinned.

            "Yeah!  Let's go for a drive!"  Xelloss agreed.

            "All right, but…after that…it's… **grocery shopping**!"  Zel shouted.

            "Noooooooooooo!"

~*~

            "Do you see that cute chick?"  Xelloss whispered to Zel as they pushed into the classroom.

            Zelgadiss dumped his heavy backpack onto the floor and glanced around the room quickly.  "No."

            "Up by the desk!"

            Zel took his seat and looked again.  "You mean the grad student teaching our class?  Her name is Eris."

            "You _know _her?"  Xelloss panted.  "Why don't _I_ know her if _you_ know her?"

            "Because…I met her last summer when I worked for the chemistry department.  Computer work dealing with…"

            "I don't want to hear about your work," Xelloss hissed.  "Tell me about…Eris!"

            "She's one of my father's minions.  This will be her second year."

            "She's…twenty-five?"  Xelloss gasped.

            Now Zel should have just let his friend think that and settle down, but Zel wasn't awake enough to think that all through.  "Younger.  She was a kid genius, qualified for early admissions to the university, whizzed through undergrad work.  Rezo spotted her and shoved her into his graduate program."  Zel took a breath and dug into his backpack for something to write on…and…with…

            "  * *  R*e*a*l*l*y  * *  ?"  Xelloss smiled.  Zel didn't look at him or he would have noticed the stars in his friend's cat-like eyes.

            "I can introduce you, if you want," Zel was saying as he reached for his planner to check the day's date.

            "Now…" 

            "Hmm?"  Zel looked up to find Xelloss already on his way to the front of the room.  "Oh…" He sighed and followed his friend.

            "Zelgadiss?  You're in this class?" the pretty young woman asked as he stood at her side.

            "Ah, yes…we ran out of things to take at school.  If the paperwork goes through we'll be in the same early admissions program you went through by winter or…at worst next fall," Zelgadiss explained.

            "We?"  Eris shot a questioning look over to Xelloss.

            "Hi!"  he smiled.  "He's including me in those schemes.  I'm Xelloss."  

            Xelloss held out his hand and took hers, intending to shake it, but he just stood there, held it, and stared.

            "X-Xelloss, well…it's nice to meet you," she smiled back.  

Zel noticed that she hadn't tried to pry her hand loose either.  "Oh, joy…" he sighed.  "Well, um, I suppose you have to start class so we'll be getting back to our seats…Xelloss…"  

A punch to his arm, and Xelloss relinquished Eris' hand and returned to the back of the room.  The rest of the class was still filing in.  

"Stop grinning," Zel snapped at his friend.

"Wow…" Xelloss replied.

"Oh dear gods…please…it's only the first day here, Xelloss.  Xelloss?  Xelloss!  I hate to burst your dream bubble, but I think she's got a boyfriend already."  Xelloss shot him a deadly glare.  "Vurumagen."

"Who?"  Xelloss asked.

"Vurumagen.  You met him.  He's another of Rezo's slaves…he drove the Volphied Clan elder around…" Zel said with a flip of his hand.

Xelloss regained his smiling countenance, "I see.  A little healthy competition, eh?"

But before Zel had a chance to retort, Eris began passing out the class syllabus and explaining the course structure and grading.  

"This is Chemistry 110," she began.  "It's been combined with the 101 class due to shortcuts, for those of you wondering why you're in here.  I'll grade and adjust the material accordingly."  She lectured a short time, answered questions, and then ended the class five minutes early.

"Wait for me," Xelloss whispered to Zel.  He instantly disappeared and reappeared at Eris' side.  

Zel decided that if his friend was determined to get disappointed, there was nothing he could do.  He stuffed his things into his binder and looked up.  He was  curious how different this class would be from the one he and Xelloss thought they would be taking and hoping that they wouldn't have to purchase a different book.  Although, he wouldn't mind returning to the university bookstore sometime soon to check out the art supplies.  He musing was cut off when Xelloss' hovering shape bobbed nearby.  What was it that Lina had said about Xelloss?  'Geeking around like a moth?' "Yes?"

Xelloss was smiling…still.  "Can I borrow your car?"

"When?"

"Tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"To-night.  Please?"

"All right.  If you pass your test with me driving home from here now.  Deal?"

"Okay-dokay!"  Xelloss skipped off to have another word with Eris, and then joined Zel on his walk out to his car.

"Well?"

"I've got a date…with her!"  Xelloss giggled and danced at the same time.

Zel blinked, "That's…great…."  Zel hoped that he would leave Lina alone and then Gourry could lead a stress-free existence.  "Where are you going?"

"Dinner and…I haven't thought past dinner."

"Dinner's probably enough for the first date.  Check out the school weekly though for films and shows.  There's usually something happening on campus and it doesn't cost much."  Zel picked up a copy of the paper from the top of the stack and handed it over to Xelloss.

"Thanks," Xelloss said.  "For being such a great friend to me…Oh, Zelgadiss!  I'm taking a girl I just met _out_ and…a year ago I didn't even have a friend!"

His excitement was spreading over to Zelgadiss.  "Hey, well…you're welcome…So, what are you going to wear?  Want to go get something new?"

A year ago the thought of buying new clothes wouldn't have even occurred to him, so Zel wouldn't have dreamed of asking a friend such a question.  Now, he was suggesting it and offering to go with Xelloss!

"Should I drive to the mall?"  Xelloss asked.  "You don't mind?"

"I have nothing better to do.  Here!"  Zel said and tossed the keys to the sports car to his thrilled friend.  "You can get me a cup of coffee.  Then we have to get home before Gourry has to wait.  Remember?  He's picking up your old drum set from Amelia's and you're supposed to help him set it up for Joey.  Ah…now you remember.  And you can tell him about your date.  Should we look for something for the birthday girls while were at it?  Good, then it will have been worth our going there."

~*~

            Gourry was sipping iced tea and cramming sugar cookies into his mouth with Amelia when Xelloss and Zel drove up.

            "Waiting long?" Zel asked.

            "Nah, had to get away or I'd be put ta work," Gourry said with a smile.  "I've been cleanin' out the basement for days as it is.  Oh, and remind me ta thank you for that one, Xelloss."

            "I didn't know," Xelloss assured his friend.  "When I suggested to your mom that the basement could be turned into a practice room for Joey, I figured it was already…a room."

            Zelgadiss was showing Amelia what he and Xelloss had bought for Filia and Sylphiel.  "Hey, Gourry!  Want to go in on this with us?"  Zel asked.

            "No thanks.  I'm lettin' Lina get somethin' for Sylphiel and Val's got somethin' in mind fer Filia.  His was too…well, he wants it to look like it's not just from him, I guess."

            "I think these chains are really nice, Mr. Xelloss.  You two have good taste in jewelry," Amelia commented.

            "Actually, Zelgadiss picked them out.  He had the eye for all kinds of adornments," Xelloss said, winking at Zel.  He liked to tease his friend about his secret earring fetish whenever he could.  "It was my idea, however.  I'm just full of good ideas these days.  Oh, I haven't told you my good news!  I made a date…with a really cute girl…"

            "Who also happens to be teaching our chemistry class," Zel pointed out.  "So don't screw things up until the class is over, all right?"  He smirked at Xelloss, who just laughed in return.  

            "Eris," Zel continued for Amelia's benefit mostly, although he couldn't miss Gourry's sudden interest in the conversation.  "You met her last summer, or at least you might remember her as one of the only female grad students of Rezo's.  She has short spiky black hair."

            "And she has brown eyes and is almost at tall as Filia," Xelloss added.

            "That's wonderful, Mr. Xelloss!" Amelia said with a bubbly hug to match her mood.  "Where are you taking her?"

            "I…don't know," he shrugged.

            Gourry ran hand through his bangs, pushing them out of his eyes, "Well, we ought get started if ya want lunch thrown in.  Ah, thanks Amelia, for the drink and stuff."  As he and the other two boys lugged the drum parts out to his pickup, he told them about his morning.  "Going up an down the stairs from the basement will be good exercise fer Joey.  My legs sure are hurtin'.  It stays pretty cool down there, but come winter I may haveta hook up a heater for him.  I finished insulatin' the ceiling so no one should hear him."

            "He's excited, I take it?" Zel asked.  This time he didn't mind so much being the 'meat' in the middle of the bench seat, since Xelloss wasn't large and was scrunching up to the door to give him 'breathing' room. 

            "Joey?  Oh, yeah…Better watch out, Xelloss.  He's…pretty intense about this and…ah…Hey…"  Gourry rolled down the window all the way and leaned out to shout,"Lina!  We're droppin' off the kit fer Joey.  Wanna help?  There's lunch?" he added, just in case.  Lina may have been leaving her house to walk over to his place, but she might have been on her way someplace else.  No reason leaving that last possibility open!

            "Hey!  Yeah…sure.  Go on, I can walk a coupla blocks.  I ain't cramming' myself in front with those bums!" she laughed and waved them away.  She needed the exercise and the day was fine, especially if there was lunch at the end of it!

            Joey had just turned thirteen and was all of 5 feet 8 inches tall-- towering over most of his classmates much like his older brother.  When he met them at the door, Zel and Xelloss had to remind themselves that he was just a kid.  Gangly and goofy.  He still wore his hair in a straw-blonde imitation of Xelloss' and was trying desperately not to look too excited.

            "Can I see one?" he begged Gourry who was carrying the bass drum.

            "When it's set up.  Now get out to the truck and find something to carry," his older brother instructed him.

            "Ze-el?  Can I see one?"

            "Certainly, but you have to carry your share first.  Take these cymbals," Zel told him.

            "Xel-loss?  Can I seeeee one?  Just one?"

            "Yeah!" Xelloss said with a smile. 

             Xelloss was the easy one to distract, Joey found out.   The older boy unsnapped a case and pulled out a sparkly purple snare drum.  It made a sizzling sound as he shook it.  "These are the snares, with the coiled wires that make that rattling sound," Xelloss explained.  "That other side of the drum is the 'batter' side.  There was a time when the skin was not plastic, but real cow skin or veal-skin for the thinner snare side.  The drum makers would hang out around the stockyards where the cows were slaughtered to…"

            "If you two don't mind?" Zel stood over them arms crossed and glaring from his one visible eye (the other being hidden by a fall of wiry hair).  "It's hot and getting hotter and I for one will not **schlep** alone."

            "Sorry," Xelloss smiled up at his friend. He stuffed the drum back into its case and pushed it on Joey.  "It's all yours!"  He then skipped off to see what remained to be unloaded.

            By this time Lina reached her goal.  "Hey!  You guys about done?"

            "Almost!"  Xelloss smiled.  "Here's the hardware bag.  Come on and see the basement!"

            "How come you're coming downstairs empty-handed?" Zel asked as Lina and Xelloss joined him in the basement.  

            Gourry was setting down his case and turned to look who was there.  "Lina!  I'll go check on lunch.  Wanna come?"

            "Sure.  Hey, the place looks…great, Joey.  I'll tell ya what.  After lunch these guys can come over to my place and bring over some beanbag chairs.  How about that?"  Lina beamed.

            "Wow, Lina!  Yeah!"  Joey beamed.

            "I'm not carrying any more until he does something," Zel announced, pointing at Xelloss.

            "I'm showing Joey how to set it up!" Xelloss retorted.

            "Fine.  Then you'll be two drums short."

            Xelloss met Zel's determined stare.  Zel was not budging.  "Okay, do-kay…little brother!"  Xelloss grinned and ruffled Zel's hair on his way back up the stairs.  

            Joey ended up carrying the pedal and throne, while the other two boys lugged the last of the drum cases down into the basement.  

            Gourry and Zelgadiss brought down lunch, while Lina watched Xelloss and Joey.  Xelloss patiently took the younger boy step-by-step through the setup process, explaining how to make adjustments as he went along.

            "You sure know a lot about this stuff," Joey said with admiration.

            "I do because Val taught me and I listened.  If you ever have a question about equipment and can't reach me, try Val.  He doesn't bite and he's full of information."  Xelloss stopped to eat a few bites of his sandwich.  "Before the others interrupt us, I want to show you some things.  Oh, first…show me what you've been practicing."

            They had been so intent on their business, Xelloss and Joey hadn't noticed the others leave.  Or return…

            "Geesh!"  Lina yelled down to the basement.  "We've already been to my house and back and you're still poundin' away?  Hey!  Heads up!  We're throwin' these bags down so get ready!"

            Xelloss stood up and used his body to shield the drums from any possible collisions with the oncoming beanbag chairs.  "Stop!  How many do you have there?"

            "Just one more!"  Lina said with a laugh.  "Luna and I cleaned out the dorms earlier in summer and came up with a dozen of these.  Zel said there wasn't room for any at your new place, so looks like Joey here gets them all!  Hey, that's a pretty good pile.  Don't move!"  Lina took a flying leap from the middle of the staircase and landed squarely in the middle of the soft cushions with a yelp of delight.

            Joey joined her for a few jumps himself, while Gourry and Zel returned to the kitchen for a can of pop.

            "Bring me somethin'!" she shouted after their receding forms.

            They returned-- Gourry with a can of cherry soda for Joey and a couple root beers for Lina and himself.  Zel handed Xelloss a lemon-lime soda.  He had a canned iced tea.  They each found a beanbag and sank it to watch the dust settle. 

            "Ya know what this place reminds me of?"  Lina mused to no one in particular.

            "Those caves we were lookin' fer Val in?"  Gourry submitted for her approval.

            "No, idiot!" she dashed his hopes of approval instantly.  "Look around!  Purple drum set…beanbag chairs…"

            "Xelloss' practice room?!" Joey tossed out carelessly.

            "Right!"  Lina rewarded him with a smile and a wink.

            "It's a great deal darker," Zel noted.

            "No kitchen or loft," added Gourry.  Zel saw it his way, he knew.

            "The carpeting's different 'cause this came from a job Dad finished and had left over," Joey shrugged.

            Xelloss said nothing, lost in his own memories for a moment.  "Well, I gotta get home and take a shower.  Do I get a ride or shall I walk?"

            Gourry was about to offer to drive him and Zel back, but he didn't want to leave Lina and risk the likelihood of her leaving before he got back.  Zel glanced up at him, enabling their mental telepathy.

           "Ah, since you have the time, why don't you walk, Xelloss.  Gourry, you stay here and entertain, I'll walk too.  I could use the exercise anyway."  Zel finished his drink with one last swig then stood up in time to catch both Gourry and Xelloss' eyes.  

            Gourry's said, "Thanks, man,"  in silent gratitude.

            Xelloss' said, "Huh?  That's a long walk!" in silent disappointment, then added aloud: "Sure…okay…well…see ya later…" Xelloss waved and carried his soda can upstairs to the kitchen garbage.  "Oh, and Joey?  You need to get a garbage can down there!"

            Joey turned on the CD player Xelloss had left him, selected one of the disks he had encouraged him to practice with, then  snapped the lid shut.

            "We'd better go upstairs," Gourry suggested to Lina.  "It's gonna get real loud soon."

            "Yeah, sure," she agreed.  She accepted his hand to pull her out of her soft pit chair, and hopped up the stairs two at a time.  "Your other brothers at home?"

            "Nope.  They're out buyin' soccer clothes with mom…then some other stuff."

            "So…your place in empty for the time being?"

            "Yeah…"  His smile widened.  "I'll get some stuff ta eat and we can listen to some music?" he asked in his low, gentle voice.

            "Great!  I'll go meet ya there!"

            "Um…it's kinda a mess…" he was mentally grappling with the images of the rooms above the garage as he'd last remembered them.  Satisfied that there wasn't anything out that might gross out Lina, he added, "But that's nothing' new."

            "'Course not!" Lina laughed quietly.  "Like _my _place is spotless.  As long as there's a place to shove into, I'm fine.  Oh, make that water or milk to drink, 'kay?  I'm tired of the sweet stuff right now."

            "Uh, huh," Gourry nodded.  "There's plenty of milk.  Oh, and some left over pie."

            "Yeah, bring that too!"

            Gourry scooped up the milk, glasses, pie box, chips and forks and then transferred them to an empty carton holding newspapers for recycling.  He lugged the carton out to the garage and up the stairs to his room where strains of music could already be heard.  Lina was dancing!

            Carefully, he set the carton of food-stuffs onto his bed.  Join her?  Watch her?  He decided to join her bouncing around to the rhythm of the song.  The dancing didn't last too long, though.  

            "Whoa!  It's getting hot in here!" Lina fell breathless to the floor. 

            "Yeah, with the shades open it heats up pretty fast when the sun hits this side of the house."  Gourry reached into the carton and removed first the milk then the pie.  He poured and passed then handed Lina a fork.  "Forgot plates so we'll haveta share, 'kay?"

            "Sure, but ya better be quick and keep yer hand outta my spearing range," she smiled crookedly.  "This is good pie.  Who made it?"

            "My sisters are learnin'.  Tough, huh?" he grinned.

            "Yeah, you gotta be the tester?  Yer mom's a good teacher.  Think she could show me some stuff?"

            "Yeah.  When she gets home we can ask.  Chips?"

            "You…are asking…me?!"  Lina chuckled.  "Barbecue?  Weird.  Chuckie's choice, huh?  See?  I know your little brothers.  Alfie's the 'ranch' guy and Joey's the…"

            "Health food.  Yeah, he's into that now.  I think he's met a girl and her brother from the Cepheid Believers, like Filia, ya know, at summer camp.  They'll be goin' to his middle school this year and I think he's doin' it at be like them.  He's in that stage, I guess.  He's tryin' ta be like everyone else."

            "Must be hard for you…him imitating Xelloss so much," Lina said, testing the waters.  She could tell that Gourry had an undercurrent of disturbance going on, submerged beneath his outwardly placid appearance.  It had been going on since the 'shower incident' at the beach house and intensified when Xelloss was around.  It had to have something to do with Xelloss.

            "Huh?  Oh…uh…yeah…some," Gourry looked askance, avoiding Lina's penetrating stare.

            She waited.  She would wait him out.  Lina wasn't especially good at 'bringing out' her friends' deepest, darkest secrets.  In fact, she mostly wished they'd keep them to themselves most of the time, but somehow, with Gourry, she felt differently.  His feelings might be in turmoil, but they were never dark and disturbing.  She would wait and see what he had to say.

            "I mean…he's a friend and all…you know…" Gourry painfully extracted from his throat.

            "Xelloss, you mean?  Not your brother," Lina said.  She would remain patient…patient…

            "Uh, yeah.  It's just…" Gourry sighed and started scraping the crumbs off the pie plate.  

            Lina needed to get things moving along, so she inserted words of her own.  "He's got a penchant for trouble; he's a practical joker, and he professes his adoration of my person.  Yeah, so what's new?"

           Gourry turned suddenly and met her eyes at last.  "He's not the only one."  His voice was low and cautious, but he held her scorching, crimson eyes with his cool blues.

            She blushed, broke the eye contact, and clenched her empty glass.  "I know that, too."  Then, looking back with a cute impish expression, she added, "You can be a lot of trouble, too."

            His eyes widened.  That's not what he meant!  "You're the most beautiful girl…ever…" he blurted out.

            "Oh?  Yeah, I AM pretty cute, huh?" she laughed nervously.  Oh, boy, Gourry was looking pretty intense now…

            "To me…you are really special too.  There is no one else.  I haven't gone out with anyone else, and don't wanna.  I don't expect nothin' from you, Lina.  I just wanted you ta know.  I mean, if ya like him…lots, that's…well…that's just somethin' I can't deal with, though."  

His anguished expression caught her off-guard.  What did he expect her to say to _that_? How _did_ she feel about Xelloss?  Relationships weren't her strong point, but she knew that they were becoming increasingly more important to her friends.  All her friends!  

Just not her.  

Or was that the truth anymore?  She couldn't deny that she felt something for Xelloss.  Some reoccurring connection, but…what?  There was no ignoring his passion, and perseverance.  But then, how could she forget that life-altering event when Gourry brought her back from the dead by the strength of his will alone--well, that and a well-timed, meaningful kiss?   There was no denying the fact that they _too_ had a deep connection.   And what about Zelgadiss?  There was no one she could to test wits with better than him, was there?  They could talk about anything…and their history!  That counted for something, too!

Gourry understood now, or thought he did.  Lina's non-answer was as good as a 'yes'.  She did return Xelloss' feelings after all!  It wasn't all one-sided anymore.  Just before he was swallowed up by his self-inflicted despair, Lina spoke.

"I'm not ready for a boyfriend, I guess.   I need all kinds of friends now and my feelings…well, I can't sort them out.  But, Gourry, you outta know that that special bond of ours is…unique, 'kay?"  She looked up with a smile and gave him a wink.

Whew!  What a relief!  Gourry's smile widened, "Yeah, Lina.  We make a special team.  Um…did he tell ya he's got a date with…ah…I fergit her name…'Heiress?'  No…well, um…his teacher, Zel said.  Can I talk ya into somethin' more to eat?"

"No, I gotta go home and do some chores," she shrugged her shoulders and hopped to her feet.  "So, Zel's got a date?"

"Um…no, Xelloss…"

"Him?  Well, that makes more sense, doesn't it?  Heh, heh…Zel...Ya know…mebbe I'll take something with me!  C'mon!  Let's check out the 'fridge!" 

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Twenty-one.  ~*~ 


	22. Chapter 22

Seyruun High Jinx Summer Special 

**The Slayers:** **Lina   Zelgadiss  Xelloss  Gourry  Amelia  Val  Filia  Sylphiel**

        ~*~    Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special!    ~*~

                               Part Twenty-two

            That was right, wasn't it?  Lina wondered on her walk home the two blocks it was from Gourry's house.  She didn't have to choose, did she?  Maybe she kinda liked having all three of them admire her off and on.  Wasn't she the greatest rising young rock singer and the most beauteous creature around?  Sure she was!  And she deserved to have admirers—to be admired—and not have to pick just one to hang on her arm triumphantly…like some medal!  Not them and most certainly not her!

            Her ruminations were interrupted by the ringing of her home phone the moment she stepped inside the door.

            "Coming!  I've got it!" she yelled, in case her sister was home.  Picking up the receiver, she shouted, "Got it!"  then in a lower voice went on, "Hi!  Lina Inverse here!  Hokuto?  Yeah, great!  You guys back at yer grandma's now?  Here?  Same ole stuff…had a practice and we didn't suck.  How about your brother's band?  Yeah, hard to get everyone's schedule figured out, huh?  After we pick up our schedules at school?  Yeah, we'll meet there and figure out how to shuttle everyone over to your place then.  Zel got a new car.  No…a sports car!  Pretty nervy for that wimp, heh, heh!  'Kay, talk later!  Bye!"

            Lina hung up and slid to the floor, "This summer is coming to an end too soon.  I've hardly had time to work on 'THE STORY' I was gonna write and now I have even more to write about!"  She fingered the ring that hung from the fine chain at her neck, Zelas' ring.  Xelloss had discretely given her the chain so she wouldn't lose the ring-- he had said.  Lina smiled as she tried to imagine how Zelas would have reacted finding her powerful syndicate ring casually swinging from her neck.  Unfortunately, instead of an image of revulsion, the lovely features of the dead woman molded into an expression of satisfaction.  "_Job well done, my dear boy!"   _the red, glossy lips whispered.

            "Ahahgah!"  The gasp of shock escaped Lina's lips as she hastily dropped the ring and let it fall to its resting spot beneath her collar bone.  

"That was so…surreal!" she panted.  Her heart beat furiously.

            Her fright was amplified the next moment by the ear-splitting shout from the door, "Liiiiiiiiiiiina!  That had better be the sound of you cleaning up, or I'll clean up on you!"  It was her sister, Luna.

            "You betcher!"  Lina yelled back, and then dashed to the laundry room to begin the first of several loads.

          Xelloss hit the shower first thing.  What on earth should he wear?  Should he try and look earthy?  Preppy?  Rocker?  He realized that he knew next to nothing about Eris, the girl…um…young woman he was about to take out to dinner and…whatever else might work out.  What was she wearing?  Jeans, t-shirt—nondescript.  What else?  Black spiky hair, multiple earrings, one stud, black eyeliner, deep purplish-black lip gloss—on the edge of punk.  He decided to go for broke and borrow one of Val's mesh shirts (might be kinda long, but…sleeves are ripped off to the elbows, good), Zel's studded wrist bands, and his newly purchased, baggy black cargos (thanks for thinking of that, Zelgadiss).

            "So?  Do I look okay?"  Xelloss asked the other two guys crowded around the kitchen counter.

            "Yeah," Val grunted.

            "You look nervous," Zel commented.  "Light!  Sit down a second and have a cup of tea."

            "Okay," he said weakly.  "I just don't want to look too…young and geeky, you know?"

            "Ya can't help what yer are," Val said.  He was being totally 'unsupportive'.

            "Huh?"  Xelloss whined.  "I do then?"

            "No," Zel inserted.  "You look like a pop singer out for the night, all right?  She knows you're younger than her, though not as much as she supposes, so don't worry.  Have you decided where you're taking her yet?"

            "Yes.  After dinner, if that goes okay, there's a club on campus where a so-so band is playing and there's some dancing.  I really don't know what she likes, so I'm leaning that way but can play it by ear if she's bored or something.  Oh…maybe this wasn't such a good idea, huh?"  Xelloss looked at Zel for some confirmation.

            "You'll be fine," Zel reassured him.  "And you'll have a good time together. You can always talk about Rezo and his work, which is her work too, I imagine, right?  You can talk science all night, if you have to."

            "Yeah," Val agreed.  "Yer already got stars in yer eyes."

            Xelloss smiled and shook his head.  Zelgadiss pushed the keys to his new car across the counter so that they came to a skidding halt in front of Xelloss.  "Thanks.  Well…guess I'd better be on my way," Xelloss said as he gingerly took up the treasured keys.

            "Good luck, dude," Val said, then chuckled at Zel's odd expression.  "Hey, I didn't say 'get lucky', did I?"

            Zel blushed instantly and turned back to the sink where he was washing out a pot to return to the stove.

            Xelloss simply shrugged, and then left the house.

            "Well, I'm outta here," Val slammed down his empty glass and vacated his seat.  "Filia's got some crap she wants me to do fer the 'believers'."

            Zel glanced up at his face over his shoulder.  "You don't mind.  You don't fool me."  then whispered, "Try as you like."

            Caught in his poorly acted fabrication, Val first glared at Zel (a stare which a year ago might have curdled Zel's stomach with anxiety) then smirked, "It's tough bein' me."

            Xelloss had found a parking place near the dormitories after a ten minute search. "Damn,"' he cursed under his breath.  "Late."  

Like Zelgadiss, Xelloss strove to be punctual.  He had no idea the campus parking spaces for visitors were so limited.  He'd have to run to make it to her door on time, and that would leave him overheated and with messy hair!  

"Xelloss?!"

Not another delay…  He tapped the coded lock and set the car alarm, then turned toward the faintly familiar female voice.

"It is you!"  The tall robust, womanly figure emerged from the shadows and Xelloss made out the familiar features.

"Luna?  Good evening!" he smiled.

"That's some car you've got there," she said leveling a cool gaze at him.  "New?"

"Ah, yes, but it's not mine.  I'm borrowing it for tonight," he explained and started to move in the direction of the dormitory.

"Hot date then, huh?" Luna pried.

"Well, maybe," he chuckled a little.  "It's my first  with her.  I hope so!"

"I see.  And who is the lucky lady?"

Xelloss was tempted to tell her that is was his secret, but something in the intensity of the Knight of Cepheid's controlled words, the tenor of her voice, her tense posture—all of it demanded more from him than a glib comment.  

"E-Eris?" he squeaked in an unmanly way.  He had lost his witty façade momentarily.  

"Eris," Luna's eyes narrowed.

"You know her?"  Xelloss regained his voice and confidence.  "She's a grad student under Rezo…but younger than most."

"Be careful.  She's over-ambitious, I think, and perhaps a social climber as well."

"You think she's after my money?" he asked disdainfully.  "She and I only just met and I can assure you she has no idea who I am.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm late as it is."  He dipped his head in deference to the stern-faced woman's rank, and jogged off.  

He fought back a few tears of hurt from the cutting warning.  "Naturally she thinks I couldn't simply attract a girl with my looks or charm.  I'm too…whatever it is that makes me an undesirable catch for everyone, it seems.  Well, Miss Luna Inverse, I'm perfectly capable of figuring out other people…Luna…what a nosy, tactless, Dominatrix that woman  is!  No wonder Lina's petrified around her…"  Xelloss continued to grumble to himself all the way up to the dormitory entranceway.

As it turned out, Eris was later than him.  He rang her at the desk when he couldn't spot her in the common room just beyond the entry, and was told by her roommate to cool his heels with a magazine or something.    He replaced the phone on its receiver and wandered over to a dirty, tattered chair.  Wrinkling his nose at the sight of several 'disturbing' stains on the arms and seat, Xelloss decided to stand instead.

"Hi!"

Xelloss smiled and looked down at a pretty blond girl.  "Hello."

"Waiting for someone?"

"Yes, I am.  Eris.  Do you know her?"  Xelloss asked.

"I know who she is, but you don't look familiar.  I know you're not Vurumagen."

"You're right about that!"  Xelloss chuckled.

"You don't look like one of those nerdy chemistry people either," the tiny blond insisted.

"No?" Xelloss smiled wider.  "I'm a drummer in a band called the Slayers…"

"Yes!  I knew I recognized you from somewhere!  You guys played with the Suzaku Seven a few weeks ago, right?"

Xelloss nodded, "We opened for them while touring this summer…I am taking classes here as well."

"Ahem…" came a voice from behind.

"Ah, Eris!"  Xelloss smiled and turned to face his date for the evening.  "Oh my…"

Eris was dressed in a short black strapless dress.  Her high-heeled boots brought her intelligent brown eyes in direct line with Xelloss' nearly invisible slitted purple ones.  Around her neck rested what could only be described as a dog-collar with two inch spikes.

The vast expanse of bare skin and cleavage did grab his attention as well.     However, as he strove to find something to say, it was that eye-catching, repellent piece of 'jewelry' to which his eyes were drawn.  "I, ah…guess you were afraid that I might try something untoward tonight?" 

Her eyes widened, her hand flying to her throat in surprise.  "Oh, ah ha ha ha!" she cracked a smile and laughed a wide-mouthed laugh.  "You're a funny guy!  I'm gonna like you!"

Xelloss sighed in relief, "Shall we go?  I made reservations for seven."  He offered her his arm like a gentleman and escorted her out of the room.

Zelgadiss shut down his computer, slamming the keyboard tray out of sight.  He was bored.  Val was out.  Xelloss was out.  Even Beast was out…like a light , sleeping.  He considered giving Lina a call, but remembered she was working at the restaurant with her sister to earn a few bucks.  Gourry and his family were shuttling 'grandma' to a nursing home and were going to be busy until late.  That left…Amelia.  Well, it couldn't do any harm to just call her to talk.  She might even have something interesting to say.  He could tell her about college life, or at least his view after a couple classes.  He talked himself into making the call.

"Hello.  Ah, Zel calling.  Is Amelia home?"  he waited a moment or two.

"Hi!" she said gaily.  "I was just thinking about you, Mr. Zelgadiss."

"Oh…I was…"

"Bored?  Me too!  Everybody's busy but us tonight.  Want to come over?  You can help me hang and straighten out the band's costumes.  You know, stripes galore?  They haven't been unpacked since the beach trip and must be wrinkled messes by now!"

No, he didn't want to fuss with clothes.  He thought a moment, and then smiled, "Maybe you'd like to see my new car."

"OH, yes!  You'll take me for a drive with the top down?  I've always wanted to drive around and feel the wind in my hair.  Yes!  My daddy's out, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind.  I'll see you real soon.  Bye Zelgadiss!"

click!

"Um…bye, Amelia," Zel said to the offline phone.  She must have been excited to have dropped the formal "Mr." title again.  Then he remembered that he didn't have a car.  Xelloss was borrowing it.  "Shit!" 

"Hello.  Ah, Zel calling again.  May I…Ah, yes, Amelia.  Yes, it's me again.  Listen… I can't make it…"  He thought he heard a sniffle on the other end.  "Amelia?  I forgot that I let Xelloss borrow my car tonight, but I can still come over and…help…"  Silence.  "Hello?"

"I'm still here, sorry.  You are a very funny guy tonight, Zelgadiss.  Hurry over!"  Amelia said lightly, and then hung up.

Zel sighed.  He wondered how many guys his age were willingly ironing stage clothes tonight.  He answered his own question.  One.

Amelia's father had his driver drop Zel back at his house when he got home.  Zel and Amelia had been playing chess on the living room floor following a game of monopoly.  Zel was pleased that Amelia was a good opponent, and a good loser.  He was even a tad sorry to have to go so soon.

"Thank you for keeping my darling daughter entertained this evening, Zelgadiss.  I wasn't aware that you were coming over, or I could have picked up some movies for you two to watch."  His dark eyebrows twitched as if to say "I'd rather you weren't here with her alone…"

"Oh, well it was unplanned," Zel explained briefly with a blush.

"We didn't need movies, daddy.  He's been teaching me some winning moves…"

"At chess!"  Zel added.  "Actually, Amelia is quite good."

"I'm better at chess than you are at ironing!" she chuckled.

The mayor grinned, "I can imagine.  Come on, son.  I'll have the driver take you home now.  No car?"

"Xelloss is borrowing it.  Thank you.  Bye, Amelia."

"See you at practice!"

Val had just pulled up as Zel was thanking the driver for the ride home.  His car, he noted immediately, was not yet home.

"Yo!"

"Hey."

"No Xelloss, eh?"

"It appears to be so," Zel sighed, then pushed past the front door to his room.  "I doubt he'll manage to pull himself together for classes in the morning either."

"If he even gets in," Val muttered on his way to his room.

"He'll get in," Zel said mostly to himself.  "Or he'll never borrow my car again.  I need it to get to classes."

When morning broke, sunny and bright—for it was the end of summer still—Zel tottered out to the kitchen to discover that he had been correct, on all accounts.  His keys were resting on the table atop a scrap of paper, which read: "Thanks little brother!  If I'm not up, go without me.—XM"  

"Fine start to college life, Xelloss," Zel muttered.  He made up a pot of coffee and started his toast, whole-grain, dry.  He sniffed the milk, gave it a pass and poured himself a small glass of orange juice.  While he waited for the coffee to brew, he looked over the calendar.  Practices and party this week, two parties if the invitation to Hokuto's was more of a party thing.  Cool.  Even an afternoon or two to himself.  Great.  Alone, probably.

Zelgadiss picked up a handout for Xelloss and realized that no one cared if you showed up for classes or not.  The math teacher did not even grade the homework.  As long as you passed the exams they were satisfied, except for the chemistry labs—Xelloss would have to come on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  The only person taking note of Xelloss' absence was Eris, who asked if he was okay.  Zel told her he was fine, just tired and sleeping in, then left.  He didn't know what else to say.  He found it terribly embarrassing to be in the middle of their…whatever, and she was a crafty girl, a little like Xelloss, when he thought about it.

Zelgadiss stopped at the market for some fresh milk and food for dinner, then returned home.  It was time for lunch and Val had taken off for parts unknown until practice.  Xelloss was sitting at the kitchen table, chin resting on his folded arms, staring at a small plastic bag of water.  Zel decided not to say anything, but instead, to prepare a sandwich for them both.  "Tuna?" he asked Xelloss.

"Hmm?  No, much smaller.  Goldfish, I believe," Xelloss answered.

Zel stiffened.  Goldfish?  In a sandwich?  "What do you mean by…oh…"  Zel took a closer look at the bag which was proving to offer Xelloss a fascinating experience; he still hadn't moved.  Inside the bag were two tiny orange fish moving their filmy fins languidly.

"Xelloss!"  Zel snapped.  "You can't keep fish in a bag like that!  They'll die!"

"They will?"  Xelloss asked, clueless.  "That's the way the man at the pet store gave them to me."

"Sure, to take home," Zel scowled.  "You've taken as much Biology as me and know perfectly well that fish need fresh water and air to live.  They need some kind of a…tank with…a filter…maybe a heater if they're tropical fish…which they aren't likely to be, but…didn't you even ask?  Did you buy them food at least?"

Xelloss looked up at Zel and smiled, "I knew you'd know what to do to keep them alive until we get the pond done."

"Pond?  What pond?"

"In the backyard.  Val said I could do it if I wanted to so…Gabriev construction is out back talking with some spa guy and an _aar-key-tech_—Val's name for the man, not mine."  Xelloss closed his eyes and appeared to drift off to sleep.

"Oh, joy…"  Zel grumbled.  He returned to fixing lunch and muttering to himself.  "Great, something else for me to take care of, what's next?  Birds and cats, I suppose.  A damned talking parrot with one leg and a cat with extra toes that hates dogs…  Oh…and a snake.  One big enough to swallow the lot of them…"

He stopped when his keen hearing made out a soft chuckle from the direction of the table.  "Funny you think?"  Zel asked as he placed a plate of food next to Xelloss' nose.

"A little," Xelloss whispered.  Then he sat up and looked over his plate.  "Thanks.  So, did I miss much at school?"

"No.  But you do have lab classes you have to attend and participate in so don't do it again," Zel said then took a bite of sandwich.  "Eris asked if you were alive, but no one else noticed.  So, did you have a good time last night, or do I want to know?"

"I had a…nice time.  Thanks for asking," Xelloss answered, then took a bite of his own.  After chewing a bit, he rose and poured them both glasses of milk.  He brought a carton of strawberry flavored power to the table, proceeded to spoon four heaping tablespoons of the poison into his glass, and watched it settle to the bottom.  He drank most of it, saving the syrupy mess for last.  "She really likes to talk shop, I found.  I think she wants a look at those rooms in Rezo's basement."

"She does?"  Zel thought that was very strange but did not want to diffuse Xelloss' happy bubble.  "Well, she'll be disappointed to know that they were sealed off.  Even my father won't let me have a look, even to try and secure any remaining intact research papers that might have survived the …blast."

Xelloss gave Zel a serious look, "How odd, indeed.  I was under the impression that Rezo had reopened part of the laboratory and was enlisting at least Vurumagen's help in procuring the…"

"What?  Eris told you that?  He--he wouldn't do that without telling me…Rezo would not!"

"Okay…okay…it was just what she thought, okay?  Probably just a whim of hers.  I'll find out though, to be sure and put your mind at ease, little brother."

"Whatever…"  Zel dismissed the conversation at once.  "So, do we need to stick around to answer questions outside?"

"I don't know," Xelloss smiled again.  "Let's go find out, shall we?"

They did not, as it turned out, but Zel forced Xelloss to go back inside and review Zel's carefully written notes from the classes he had missed earlier and start the homework.  "You don't want to get behind before high school even starts," Zel added sternly.

"I guess not," Xelloss agreed half-heartedly.  Now that he had a life, studying was less important to him.  He had ideas, things to build, and excess creative energy was leaking out of his pores giving him an aura of oddness!

"Xelloss!  Watch where you're going!"  Zel growled as his friend collided into him on his way to the refrigerator to get a drink, which was now down his front.  

"Sorry," Xelloss smiled apologetically.

"Now I have to change my shirt and when was the laundry last done?  I'm running out of clothes!"  Zel chided him for neglecting to do his housework as well.

"I can start a load now, if you'd like?"  Xelloss placed his dripping soda can onto the table.  "I'll go get you one of my t-shirts…" he yelled as he skipped out of the kitchen and into his own room.  In a few moments he danced back, arms loaded with a bag of laundry and a clean shirt.  "See?  It's gray, naturally!"

Zel had to smile at that.  Many of their clothes had become 'gray-toned' after Val's first turn at the laundry back when they had lived in Zelas' house.  Those clothes were long gone, burned up in the fire, which had destroyed the house, but the joke remained.  

"You start sorting and I'll get Val's things to wash," Xelloss said.

"Fine with me.  I won't brave entering his domain.  He painted the walls black in there, you know."

"Yeah, I told him to leave a laundry basket by the door or I'll never find it…and…he did.  Good for you, Vally-boy!"  Xelloss giggled faintly and dragged the basket to the utility room.

"I don't see any detergent, Xelloss."

Xelloss pushed a few cartons around, found the detergent box up-ended, and empty.  "Ah…something more to get."

"More?  I already bought dinner…"  Zel began.

"We have to go get a fish aquarium, right?"  Xelloss said brightly.  "I think we have time before practice…"

"When did my days become so full?"  Zel mused, interrupting Xelloss in the process.  Then, shaking his head, Zel began to list off his current exciting activities, "Classes, when everyone else is sleeping.  Laundry, cooking, shopping…You know a year ago I was doing the same damned things."

"Stop grousing," Xelloss chirped.  "That was for Rezo, now it's for the benefit of your friends!"

"There's a difference?"  Zel asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well…I'm younger…more entertaining…a lot less trouble…"  Xelloss started his own list, counting off the reasons, when Zel burst into rare laughter.

"Less…trouble?  Heh…ha…" he folded, crumpled to the floor, and turned purple with the exertion of unfettered merriment.

Xelloss smiled down at his closest friend, glad to have broken through his hard exterior.  "Okay…that's enough," he said with a chuckle of his own and giving Zel a little kick with his foot for emphasis.  "Time to get in all those errands before we're late and have to face the wrath of Miss Lina!"

On their way out to Zel's car, Xelloss made a suggestion.  "I know you'll think it's a stupid idea, but…"

"Go on…that's never held you back before," Zel smirked.

"But…I think we should hire a cleaning service.  Even if it's every other week.  We can afford it and it'll free up some time for us to do…fun stuff."  Xelloss stared at Zel waiting for his disapproval.

"That's a very good idea, Xelloss and I bet Val will agree.  We can ask Rezo's 'housekeeper' Mrs. Shafer.  She has a couple nieces who clean houses or knows someone who does."

Xelloss smiled contentedly and leaned back in the car seat, closing his eyes.  Life was good.  Sometimes, nearly wonderful.

The band's practice was another fun event.  Really fun.  The cohesion was high; everyone seemed relaxed and positive.  The harmony was literally and figuratively harmonious.  So, Xelloss decided that it was time to introduce a new song, one of the ones Lina had exposed them all to over the beach holiday.  

"Lina?  I have a translation of the words, but…I'm pretty sure it requires a better singer than '_moi' to pull off this one.  I was wondering if…"_

"Yeah, sure, I'll take over," Lina said in her usual bravado and extending her lightly freckled arm out for the paper he held.

"Well actually," Xelloss smiled patiently.  He moved the paper to just out of her reach.  "I was hoping it could be a duet."

Zelgadiss and Gourry sidled up to the dueling pair.  "Do you think Joey will be ready to handle the drum part?"  Zel asked.

"Mostly.  I think Val can lay down a background tract with his synthesizer so that all Joey needs to do is add emphasis," Xelloss answered.  He unfolded the paper and spread out a fan of CD's.  "I made copies of the song for every one to listen to and hopefully pick out your own part."

"That'll do fer starters," Val said as he joined the group.

Gourry whomped Xelloss on the back, in a friendly way, "You've been makin' good use of yer time.  Zel said ya got in pretty late from yer date."  Gourry gave him a meaningful look and a winning smile.  "Have a good time?"

Xelloss didn't blush, but he appeared embarrassed.  The room fell into silence as it seemed everyone was curious about his new 'girlfriend'.  "Ah, yes.  Eris is a very intelligent young woman.  We had oodles to talk about.  Dinner was nice and she's not at all a bad dancer, although her taste in music follows along the lines more of Val's taste than mine."  Xelloss offered that much insight into his evenings activities.

"So ya gonna see her again?"  Gourry pressed.  He was asking Xelloss, but looking at Lina, watching for her reaction.

"I imagine so.  She teaches our chemistry class at the university," Xelloss answered carefully.

"Oh Mr. Xelloss," Amelia said cheerfully.  "You know what he means!  Are you going to ask her out again soon?"

Xelloss smiled complacently thinking, '_what a perfect lead in, Miss Amelia_…', but said, "That's a secret!"  

Lina snorted, "Right!  It's none of our business anyway.  Let's go over the stuff for the upcoming competition first then we can work on the new tune, 'kay?  Oh, and Xelloss?  I want some other songs copied and translated for the next practice.  Think you can do that?  Sure ya can.  You're not that busy, I know.  Here, let me write down the titles…"  Lina scribbled on a small pad of paper with Amelia's blue pen, then jammed it into Xelloss' hand.  "Nice ta know yer good for somethin'!"  she winked and grinned, then bounded off to start up the first song.

Gourry was particularly upbeat that day.  He made several overtures of friendship toward Xelloss that he had seldom made in the past: getting him a can of soda, acknowledging a part well done, laughing at his antics, amongst other small and seemingly innocuous courtesies.  Apparently knowing that Xelloss was no longer 'on the make' toward Lina, made Gourry like the guy a whole lot better.  This did not get by Zelgadiss at all.  He considered it to be a good thing, but hoped that Gourry, his stalwart friend, was not leaning toward the insincere, becoming a bit overt and perhaps ahead of himself in thinking Xelloss had given up all hope in securing Lina's affections.  But then, Xelloss might respond well to Gourry's kinder treatment, improving his relationship with everyone in the end.  That would be good.  Zel decided to have a talk with Gourry later; the guy shouldn't go overboard—Xelloss was no dummy.  

~*~

The next day Xelloss attended both of his classes with Zel, completing his lab and his homework.  He had to do something for all the trouble he had put Zelgadiss through the day before.  He did enjoy watching his little fish swim around in the bowl.  Zel had filled the punch bowl-sized container, treated the water to remove the chorine, and placed it in the center of the kitchen table with a sign that said: 'Do **NOT** feed these fish or they will die as surely as I am mad enough to agree to take care of them—Zel.'  Xelloss smiled thinking about how droll Zelgadiss was.  "What would he do without us to bring excitement into his dreary little life?"

"Xelloss?  Are you staying to talk to…you know who?  I'm going to the university bookstore right up the street…  Yes, the same one where we bought our books.  I'm going to look over the art supplies.  Meet me at the car, all right?"

"Okay, dokay, Zelgadiss!"  Xelloss smiled and turned to look for Eris.

She found him first.

"Eris?  Oh…Mmmphf!"  Xelloss' greeting was lost in a kiss delivered with deliberateness, if not passion, by the young woman.

"You weren't here yesterday.  I missed you," she said poking him in the chest.  Even without her high heels, Xelloss noticed she was nearly as tall as he was and was currently staring into his eyes expectantly.

"Ah…really?  Oh, well, I'm sorry about that…" he searched for the right words while this tiny voice was screaming in his head '_She just kissed you just like that!  Do something clever and amusing_!  _Say something witty_!'

"Would you like a mint?" he asked innocently pulling out a roll of peppermints from his pants pocket.  A lady killer, Xelloss was not, yet.

She made a little frown and nabbed one off the top.  "Thanks.  So?  We doing something tonight?  How about you showing me your place?"

"M-My…place?  Oh, certainly, if you'd like, although my roommates will be there…"

"No problem.  You have your own room, right?  We can take a walk…your stepfather's close, isn't he?  We could walk over there.  You have a dog, you said.  We'll take her for a walk then."

"Him," Xelloss corrected her.  "Beast is a male dog.  Well, okay, if you'd like.  Can you find your own way over?  I don't have a car, Zelgadiss does, but he might be using it.  You can stay for dinner if you come by six?"

"Six?  Sure.  What's the address?"  Eris asked.  

Xelloss wrote down his address on a paper from his notebook, including the bus stop and timetable from memory.  "There you go.  Oh, add when I say six, I mean six o'clock on the dot.  Zelgadiss is a punctuality freak.  I kid you not!"  Xelloss smiled as he regained his senses in time to see her wave and trot off.  _'Whew!' he thought to himself.  '_These college girls are far more aggressive than…'__

"So.  It is you, then," a low voice intoned by Xelloss' ear.

"Excuse me?"  Xelloss turned slightly to see whom it was addressing him.  "Vurumagen, right?  I recognize you from our little summer rendezvous in the highland desert community of the clan."  He smiled, hiding his eyes as he did so.

Vurumagen was slightly shorter than Xelloss, with fine, stringy straight brown hair and a heart-shaped, plain face.  He must have been twenty-five years old and had a twin brother and at least two or three other brothers that were younger but all looked exactly alike.  A squad of plain and boring geeks.  

"Yes.  That was a very…disturbing series of events," the plain young man said in a hollow tone.

"Disturbing?  Just a little!"  Xelloss quipped.  He was wondering it this was the end of their conversation.  He was eager to meet Zelgadiss back at his car and plan dinner together.  "Well, ah…later?"

"She loves me.  Not you."

"Say what?"  Xelloss asked, again forced to turn back to the blank, expressionless face.

"Erissss," Vurumagen hissed.  "Are you deaf or just stupid?  She's my girlfriend and I'm telling you to back off."

"Hmmmm," Xelloss allowed his smile to stretch a little wider.  He knew how that could annoy others, and this trifling twerp was irritating him now like a niggling little gnat.  "You say you are her boyfriend, then?  Funny, she didn't mention anything about you to me the other night.  And she had plenty of time.  We were out…very late."  He then added for effect, "She certainly is quite affectionate, isn't she?  Well, at least I found her to be, but then I have quite a fan base out there, I understand."  Xelloss folded his arms across his chest and opened his eyes slowly.  

So startled was he by the strange purple slitted eyes, that Vurumagen stepped back and gasped, "Demon!"  Then he came to his senses and snarled back, "She's using you.  I was going to warn you, but now…I think I won't.  You'll just find out the hard way, when she drops you like a rock.  I was going to smash your face in, but now…I just feel sorry for you."

Xelloss did not reply, but watched the other man lurch off out down the hallway with great haste.  He certainly didn't fear the man.  As out of shape as Xelloss felt he was, he knew that he could take out a little nerd wimp like Vurumagen in a heartbeat.  After a few seconds, Xelloss followed him out of the building, then turned a different way toward the parking lot.  He was getting tired of this.  Why didn't everybody mind their own business?  Luna and now Vurumagen of all people!  It had just been a simple evening consisting of dinner and some dancing.  Yes, she wasted no time drawing him into a kiss or two, but he hadn't minded all that much.  Xelloss smiled at the recollection.  She had even taken off that nasty collar by dessert.  Still, nice as it was, nothing serious was going on, just a date.

He arrived at Zel's nifty little sports car before Zel, and so he pulled out his cell phone and sat in the shade of a nearby tree and placed a few calls.  It was warm, he was wearing his favorite light green polo shirt and baggy khaki shorts, and sandals that showed his lightly tanned legs and arms.  He looked like every other average guy, a bit preppy, but without his rock-drummer aura from the night before.  If you ignored the silky purple-black hair worn in that odd page-boy cut, that is.

Zelgadiss strode up carrying a light sack of new drawing supplies.  He found drawing relaxed him and recently he had missed the creative outlet it had offered.  Something else he had lost.  He had saved a few drawings in a box of keepsakes stored elsewhere when his house had burned to the ground, but the paper and pencils, erasers and pens were gone.  Well, it was nice to buy new things, better things.  He pushed back a fall of wiry lavender hair that hung hot and heavy over one side of his face.  He was reluctant to reveal his scarred arms and legs around campus, so he wore very baggy cargo pants, which were nearly white, and a long-sleeved white shirt.  He drew stares wherever he went, but they were brief and a bit embarrassed around the university.  It was a very diverse crowd of students in attendance, making his and Xelloss'-- not to mention a few of the flashy Suzaku Seven that were enrolled there-- unusual appearance fit right in.  He'd never felt more comfortable with his freakish looks before, and was thinking of trying out shorts next week, if it was as hot as this day was.

He spotted Xelloss resting under a tree and moved in that direction, happy to have his best friend waiting for him.

Xelloss finished his conversation and put away the cell phone.  Looking up he said, "Hi, Zelgadiss.  Ready to go home?  Can we stop at the grocery first?  I, ah…invited Eris for dinner.  I'll help…" his eyes begged Zel not to give him a hard time about the last minute change to plans.  

"Eris?  Oh, sure.  What do you have in mind?"  Zel smiled and offered him a hand up.

"Something not hot.  How about a big salad with lots of veggies and bread, interesting bread, and cheeses, and three kinds of sherbet with cookies, those really thin ginger ones, I think, and…"

"All right, that's enough to go on for now.  Let's see what's available."  Zel looked at his watch then asked, "Is Val home?  I assume you gave him a call just now."

"No.  He stayed at the settlement last night.  Remember him taking Filia home after practice?"  Xelloss asked as they slipped into the hot leather seats.  "Ah, yuck!  I stick!  Air conditioning…hurry up and get cold!"

"Yes, I remember all that, but I didn't think he said whether or not he was coming back.  Oh, don't be such a wimp!  It's cooling as fast as possible.  Want the top down?  Too much sun, eh?  Fine.  Let's go."  Zel put the car in gear and drove away.

"He called the house and left a message.  Guess we missed it.  But he'll be back for the birthday bashes tomorrow."  Xelloss glanced over at Zelgadiss and then said, "That new Axis game is fun, huh?  Especially when we play one another over the Internet when we are only one room apart."

"Yeah.  I could spend my life playing games, if I didn't have to eat and all.  You know, I'd better give Kenshin a call and get in some practicing.  I bet my body's forgotten everything it learned.  Clawing and scraping through subterranean caverns and battling the syndicate didn't provide the best exercise, but I've done practically nothing else for the longest time.  Now, without our bikes…and with this car, we don't even walk!"  Zel sighed and turned into the grocery parking lot.

"Want to join me at the dojo?"  Xelloss smiled and slowly unglued his bare legs from the car seats.  "I'm going back to work out a bit this afternoon."

"Yes!"  Zelgadiss shouted.  "Let's get this done fast."

 Xelloss and Zel ran back into the house.  They had only a half an hour to shower and start dinner.  Their workout at the dojo had gone better than ever.  It felt good to stretch and fight for fun, and not for their lives, for a change.  Sango and Nuriko were there as well as the sensei, who nearly cried to see Xelloss again.  Before they had gone, they had both assured the man and their friends that they would be back on a regular basis.  As a result, they had ended up staying longer than expected, and were now reduced to running around the house like idiots and shouting.

"Crank up the air conditioning!"  one shouted.

"I can't find the vegetable peeler!"

"Didn't we buy salad dressing?  No matter, I'll make do…"

"Can I feed the fish?"

  
"Where did you hide the kitchen towels?" shouted the other.

"Why in the freezer, of course!"

"Huh?"  Zel stopped in his tracks.

"Yeah, I'm not kidding!  Someone stuffed them in the freezer.  I was looking for ice to cool the tea and I found them.  See?"  Xelloss giggled as he ran over and jammed the ice-cold rags down Zel's back.

"Argh!"  Zel screamed then set to dashing Xelloss with icy rinse water leftover from cleaning the lettuce.

"Oohhhhh!"  Xelloss howled.  

That brought Beast out of his slumber.  The old wolf-dog hobbled out to the noisy kitchen just as Xelloss and Zel slipped on a slippery, wet spot and fell in a heap on the floor, with salad on top and the baguette on the side, sopping up the dirty water.  So much for dinner.

"Wahooooooo," Beast howled.

Ding, Dong

"Oh, my…"  Xelloss moaned.  "Eris…has arrived."

After a brief rundown of the ruined meal, Xelloss apologized and suggested that they all take Beast out on a walk, leave him with Rezo, visit the Italian restaurant in their old neighborhood, then go back to retrieve the dog and visit.  Zel tried to get out of it, but Xelloss insisted, since he, Xelloss, had had a major role in spoiling his, Zel's, dinner.  Eris seemed eager to get going, so Zel gave up and joined them.  He hated threesomes, but he guessed having Beast along made it nearly a foursome.  Oh joy…

Zelgadiss walked ahead with Beast, trying to ignore the couple giggling behind him.  He was glad Xelloss was happy, actually.  His friend deserved a break after all.  It was over a mile to their old neighborhood and the moment Zel stepped foot on his old block, the one with the house he had grown up in, his chest tightened with pent up grief.  He had not gotten over the total upheaval in his life, which had transpired over the past year.  One year!  That was all!  He trotted the final few steps up to his father's house (once his house, too!), dragging the dog all the way and knocked at the door.

"Come in, Zelgadiss!"  The smiling face of Mrs. Shafer greeted him as she threw wide the door.  "You are always welcome to come visit, you know that.  Oh!  I see you've brought your poochie."

"Ah, yes…Beast."  Zel patted the gray-headed dog affectionately.  "Can we leave him here for an hour while we go to dinner?"

"WE?"  Mrs. Shafer looked up.  "Oh, your brother and…does he have a girlfriend now, I see?"

"I think so.  All three of us are going over to the Italian restaurant…"  Zel began.

"That place!"  the older woman sniffed.  "I cook much better!  I have plenty!  I made dinner for twelve and you know that father of yours…eats like a bird!  Tonight, it won't all go to waste!"

As Zel started to protest, Xelloss and Eris came up the walk and Rezo crept out of the darkness of the den where he had been fiddling around.  Xelloss waved and grinned.  He had known Mrs. Shafer a very long time and he loved to talk to older adults, especially when he had a prize to show off; Eris, this time.

"Hello, Mrs. Shafer!  Yes, we had a terrific time at the beach.  Thanks for the use of the houses.  I think it was my very first non-working vacation!"  Xelloss said.  Before Zelgadiss could correct his error on that account, he drew up Eris by the hand and introduced her.  "Mrs. Shafer, I'd like you to meet Eris.  Eris, this is a long-time friend of ours, Mrs. Shafer."

The ladies greeted each other dryly, when Rezo spoke up, "Eris?  Is that you here with my boys?"

"She's with me, specifically," Xelloss said in order to direct any contrary comments about their attachment to him and any from Eris or Zelgadiss.  "I messed up Zel's dinner and so I'm taking us all out to the Italian place…"

"Nonsense!"  Mrs. Shafer declared.  "You'll all eat here and I won't take 'no' for an answer.  Zelgadiss, bring that poor animal into the kitchen and give him some water.  Eris, you can help your young man there set the table.  Rezo?  Quit glowering and pour us some wine…Of course they're old enough!  Big boys like them…in college and all…should be settled down with wives and families by now…Course, that poor child….who knows what kind of poison that woman filled his mind with?"

Rezo simply shook his head and followed Mrs. Shafer around, listening to her continuing diatribe on the ills of society and his children in particular, all which was mostly true and he agreed with.  Mrs. Shafer would have his two boys—and the third one too, if he came by more often—settled down on the straight and narrow path in no time. 

"And how old are you, my dear?" she asked Eris pointedly.  They had kept the conversation mostly non-personal at the dinner table up and till then.

"Er…twenty-two…Mrs. Shafer," Eris answered hesitantly.  She wanted to have a few words with her mentor, Rezo, but was having a difficult time steering the conversation that way. 

"Twenty-two.  Not at all a bad age.  A little older than Xelloss, but no matter.  I was older than my dear late husband as well.  Never made a difference.  Lent him distinction, proving that he could handle an…older woman, yes?"  Her eyes glittered black as she caught Xelloss attention.  

He blanched at the suggestion, but covered it up with a polite cough and a seemingly profound interest in his salad.  Zelgadiss thought the comment was funny and nearly upset his wine glass in his attempt to set it down before his barely concealed mirth shook the glass out of his hand.

"Now, don't you tease you poor brother, Zelgadiss," Mrs. Shafer said.  She brought him to task over ribbing Xelloss before, but Xelloss, ever the complete gentleman around her, was never caught in the midst of his own shenanigans.  "You!  Where is that nice little girl who's so taken with you?  Xelloss, what's her name?  Amelia!  Yes, that's the one!  Beautiful child.  And quite rich, I understand, in her own right.  Good family, although I didn't vote for her father in his first election.  I thought he was a little caught up in that "For Justice" thing for my tastes, but that was when I was younger…now…it doesn't sound so out of place, does it?  He gets my vote all the time now…everyone's, of course!  My sister's husband's daughter by his first marriage is the cook at the Mayor's.  Didn't you know that? Well…she is…ah…dear…empty…  Rezo, pour me some more of that nice wine, if you would.  Yes, that's nice, dear.  Xelloss!  You haven't tasted yours, what?  You don't like reds?  You don't _drink_?  Oh, you're too young to be worrying about your liver…"

"I think you may be right, Mrs. Shafer," Xelloss managed a word in edgewise, "But that's because I'm too young to be drinking at all."

"Nonsense!  When I was a young girl…" and so it went.  

Rezo and Zelgadiss ate in relative peace and quiet, nodding now and then at the appropriate times.  Eris hardly touched her food more than to be polite and watched the proceeding with an air of indifference.  Zelgadiss wondered what she made of his family, and whether she was losing interest in it all the faster for being submerged in it, or whether she was going into shock.  In any case, his love for Mrs. Shafer was growing minute by minute and he wondered how his father had lucked into finding this woman at this time in his life.  Another one of Xelloss' machinations probably.  Rezo, for his part, looked at ease and comfortable, and as happy as Zelgadiss had ever known him to be.

Zel did remember to get the names of a couple of recommended 'nice girls' whom Mrs. Shafer believed would take care of Rezo's boys just fine.  "Good housekeepers!  I taught them and they have tiny little places of their own to take care of, no trouble there.  Both married, so no hanky-panky, you hear?"

Zelgadiss flushed pink at the accusation and thanked her for the names and for dinner.  

"How about dessert?"  Xelloss asked.  "There's an ice cream shop a few block up and over…"

"Count me out, Xelloss," Zel smiled and shook Beast to wakefulness.  "I'm taking this old boy home.  Go ahead if you want.  I'll see you later."

Later that evening, he heard Xelloss, and presumably Eris, come into the house, but Zel was at work at his computer in his own room and did not come out and talk.  If anything else happened that he needed to be informed about, it could wait until the next day—Filia and Sylphiel's    birthday party.

~*~

            "FIIIIRE BAAAAAL!"  Lina screamed as she released her glowing red-orange sphere.  The bowling ball sped down its lane toward its goal, ten slender white pins, then BOOM blasted them away, sending the little pins scattering in all directions, one even hopped the alley and danced into the neighboring lane.

            "Thanks Lina," Zel grumbled.  "I might have taken the lead had your pin not blocked my perfect shot!"

            "I am so awesome!"  Lina hollered and totally ignoring Zel's glare.

            "Great shot, Lina!"  Gourry shouted.  "That puts you in the lead again."

            "Where I belong!" she agreed.  "One hell of a birthday bash, Filia!"

            "Glad you approve," Filia laughed from a bench directly behind Lina.  "It was my idea, but since Sylphie couldn't come with a better one…"

            "You mean _any _one_," _Martina sniffed.  She and Zangalus had been invited 'for old times sake', Filia had said, but Zangalus had been unable to attend.  She was Filia's team partner bowling against Lina and Gourry. 

            On the lane next to them was the team of Xelloss and Amelia against Zel and Val.  They had drawn names from a hat to determine the partnerships, leaving Sylphiel and her fiancé, Tarou-kun, to wait to play one of the winners in the next round.  

            "I think I'll get out the cake and set up for the luncheon, Tarou-kun," Sylphiel sighed.  "Why don't you go on over and talk to my…_our_…friends.  I think you'll like them once you get used to them."

            The young man nodded and joined the quieter Zelgadiss group.  Zelgadiss took a moment to look over the young intruder.  About his height, straight black hair, now with some red-dyed spiky tips on top, and dressed in a fashionable t-shirt and jeans.  The guy smiled nervously and said, "Hi."

            Val turned and looked down at the Japanese boy and said, "Wanna play?"

            "Oh, no…I'm just learning.  I do play guitar though.  Um…Which one of you is the guitar player for the band?"  Tarou replied in surprisingly understandable English.  He seemed nonplused by the coolness with which the other guys had been treating him so far.  

            "Zel…this guy," Val said, accidentally catching one of his rings in Zel's wiry hair when he tried to pat his head.  "Gah!  I keep fergittin' about this weird stuff.  Yer turn, dude."

            Zel rubbed the sore spot on his head and frowned slightly, "I know.  And I'll nail this one, if Lina's finished.  I'll get back with you in a moment."  He nodded Tarou's way, and then blasted all ten pins away with a precisely angled, frosty-blue bowling ball.  "Yes!"

            Zel sat next to the newcomer and fell into a comfortable discussion of bands and guitars, culminating with Zel inviting him to their next band practice.

            "Time for lunch and cake!"  Sylphiel called out and immediately all record of the games was wiped out of Lina's mind as she raced Gourry and Amelia for first dibs on the fried chicken.

            Fast work was made of the food, the candles on **two** different cakes were lit and blown out, and then the cakes themselves were consumed to the last crumb.

            "Back to the games!"  Lina announced when she noticed the food had run out.

            "But Miss Lina!"  Amelia cried out.  "It's time for the birthday girls to open their presents!  Come on everybody; gather 'round!"

            Boring, but necessary, she figured, and so Lina sat impatiently through the sappy drivel: "Oooooh its so cuuuute!  How sweeeeet!  I just loooooove it!"  Even though it seemed to go on endlessly, it didn't.  Earrings, body lotion, hair things, cute stationary-type items (including some glitter pens from Zel who'd covertly picked them up from the art store during his last visit)…girly things, for the two girlies girls in The Slayers.  At last the presents were opened at last and the givers thanked and then it was on with the…

            "Our lanes are what?  Closed?  Other people have taken them?  But our games weren't over!  I still had another strike to throw!"  Lina complained.

            "Oh I'm so sorry Lina, but our time is up and I guess they just rented the lanes out to those other people," Sylphiel sighed.  She hadn't cared about it enough to keep track of the time, it was just too complicated and there were so many other things to think about.

            "Hey Lina," Gourry strode to her side to take over 'subduing Lina'.  "How 'bout we come back tomorrow and play some more?"

            "Yeah…okay…sure…I'll do better, anyway.  This was just a practice tonight, eh?"  She smiled and prepared to go home.  "So, don't forget we pickup our schedules at the high school then go to Hokuto and Subaru's party, okay?"

            "You must be very popular," Tarou said, "if you go to so many parties!"

            Lina turned and looked at him, squarely and confidently.  "When we make friends…" she said.  "We make 'em for keeps.  Right, Sylphiel?"

            Sylphiel blinked.  Everyone else blinked.  Hadn't Lina been the _most_ reluctant to go to this party?  Didn't she dislike Sylphiel more than the rest of them?  So, if she said so…

            "Right, Lina!"  Sylphiel sighed, happily.  That was the best birthday present she could have gotten from Lina: forgiveness.

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Twenty-two.  ~*~ 


	23. Chapter 23

Seyruun High Jinx Summer Special 

**The Slayers:** **Lina   Zelgadiss  Xelloss  Gourry  Amelia  Val  Filia  Sylphiel**

~*~    Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special!    ~*~

Part Twenty-three

          Friendship.  That's what was important, right?  Lina knew it as much as anybody.

          "Yo!" Val called out as the kids started for their assorted vehicles, parting for the evening.  "The night is just startin' out! Fil here wants ta see the '_Two Towers'_.  Anybody else?"

          "You know we all missed it earlier cause we were running through the caves looking for you," Filia nudged him with her hip for emphasis.  "I think he should treat us all, what do you say?"

          That got a round of cheers.  Before Val had a chance to argue, everyone was piling into their cars—and his—ready to meet at the local mall theater where one showing was still scheduled.  

"Where's Xelloss?" Filia asked, curious when she noticed his irksome personality missing from the group. 

          "I'll go get him!"  Amelia cried out as she hopped and tripped getting out of Val's car.  "He was talking to Sylphiel's father, I think.  See!  There he is still.  Mr. Xelloss!  Are you coming?"

          "I'm not sure what to do, Mr. Nels Lahda," Xelloss was saying.  "I would like to return to my duties, but I haven't any idea when I'll have free time, what with both the high school and the university classes jarring for my attention.  Lately I've been considering just dropping the whole mess.  I don't really need it anyway…"

          "Now young man, I don't want to hear that you've dropped out of school.  I know your…Rezo wants…_expects_ you to finish up.  I know it may seem inconsequential to you right now, but somewhere down the line you are going to need that degree.  Not only that, you need some kind of focus to your life.  The shrine can give you that, but so can school.  Now, you enjoy this last week before high school classes begin and don't worry about your priest duties.  But don't forget them either!  I won't let you."  Nels Lahda put a warm hand oh Xelloss' shoulder.  "I like you, young man, and I know you have a wonderful future waiting for you.  I want to help you get there."

          "Thank you," Xelloss smiled sincerely.  This was almost as nice a surprise as Lina's forgiveness of the man's daughter.  "And I know it's not just because you can't find anyone else to manage those databases for you who's better than me, right?"  Xelloss winked and grinned.

          "Xelloss, now you know me better than that…" Nels Lahda smiled and shook his head.  "Looks like you're wanted by the little princess!"

          "Princess?  Oh, Miss Amelia…princess…that's a good one…" Xelloss smiled widely.

          "Well, don't tell her I started that nickname," Nels Lahda whispered.

          "Who me?  No, I keep secrets very well!  Later!"  Xelloss waved and jogged off to join Amelia in Val's car.  Gourry and Zel had already taken off to wait in line at the theater.

          "Will you be okay this time, Mr. Zelgadiss?"  Amelia asked.

          Zel had found himself wedged in-between Amelia and Sylphiel buying popcorn.  "Yes, I have my ear plugs this time."  He didn't know why he was buying popcorn exactly.  He wasn't hungry.

          "Get me somma that candy and a soda too…and I'll save ya a seat!"  Lina yelled at Zel.

          Of course.  Lina was why.  He knew she'd want 'something' so he might as well get a few supplies now so as not to have to miss part of the movie later in order to satisfy a Lina-craving.

          "Hey!  It's that alien-dude!"

          Zel froze.  Oh…not…here…

          "Hey!  This ain't the Star Wars Freak show, ya know!" some greasy kid pointed out to Zel.

          And here he was just getting to think he might wear shorts to school on Monday…

          "Who are you calling a freak, you…unjust creep!"  Amelia stood proud, forthright, and disclaimed loudly.

          "He's an elf!"  Sylphiel interjected.  "For _real!_He's also a famous guitarist in a rock band, or haven't you been going to concerts this summer?!"

          With two truly beautiful girls, one on each arm, it was convincing the creeps that perhaps they had picked on the wrong guy.  They could see two pointed ears adorned with rings poking through Zel's strange lavender-toned hair, and his intense eyes glared from beneath the wiry bangs unnaturally.  Super-naturally, in fact.  The lines of scars, mostly faded and masked by the light tan, came into focus last.  Sword fighting scars.  His dude's seen battle, serious battle.  Alien or…elf.  Yep, definitely elf.

          "Oh, man…sorry…really…sorry…ah…no offense or nothin'…" one creep muttered and allowed his buddy to yank him away to the safety of darkness.

          Before Zel could say anything, the kid behind the counter asked, "What can I get for you…er…sir?"  He filled Zel's order in a flash, without batting an eye.  "Here's your change.  Cool earrings.  Can I help the next in line?"

          Yeah, where would we be in this world without friends?

          Val's entry into the theater cleared a path.  No one wanted to mess with a scary punk like him.  This was fine with him.  He had worked hard to establish a hard-edge reputation just for that reason.  It had kept him relatively unscathed in Gaav's house of hoods and now it kept the riff-raff out of his way.  He felt protective of Xelloss, which was rational considering Xelloss' history of being drawn to trouble; and so, he moved through the theater with Xelloss on one side and Filia on his other.  "Keep movin'.  Fergit the food.  It's bad shit here.  Go fer those prime seats in the middle.  Don't worry, everyone will scatter when we get there," Val muttered to Xelloss, aiming him in the right direction.

          "He's right," Filia said.  "Val claims his place and the women and children run for their lives."

          Xelloss giggled, thinking they were both full of it, but sobered when he found that magically, the few people closing in on those seats did indeed move off once Val moved in.  "Impressive, Val.  When did you say you last bathed?"

          Val growled and attempted to smack Xelloss, but the Karate master dodged his lazy thrusts with ease.

          "Now boys," Filia chided them.  "Behave or I'll have to report you to your father…Rezo, you know who I'm talking about.  Come on, here comes Gourry and the rest so…I want each of you…one on either side of me.  Why?  So you don't fight like children and disturb the other patrons, silly!"

          Val rolled his eyes and chuckled, but Xelloss wasn't used to this cheerful, playful Filia.  He was expecting the same old stuck up, self-righteous Filia he'd grown accustomed to provoking.  But then, he wasn't feeling confrontational at the moment.  More…warm and fuzzy.  Friends.  He was surrounded by other people who liked him—to varying degrees, yes, but more than tolerated him, and for an entire year now!

          "Stop grinnin' like an asshole, Xelly-boy, or yer'll ruin my effect," Val said.

          "I can't.  I'm happy," Xelloss smiled.  "I'm sitting here with my friends, guys that…like being around me.  You see, a year ago I was so loaded with antidepressants I could hardly see straight.  And I had this job…and I wanted it all to stop…"

          "Oh, Mr. Xelloss, it did!  You changed all that, don't you see?  You changed it all.  Now it's the next year and you can start all fresh and new.  This year you have a house and brothers and a great father and lots of friends and the best band in all of Seyruun!  No one is trying to use you or make you do evil things.  This year you can fight only for the just and righteous causes you choose to fight!  Only what is noble and virtuous…" 

          Amelia was interrupted in her speech as she slid into the seat beside Xelloss by Val, who said, "The only cause he's goin' fer that I can tell ain't so virtuous and wears black lipstick…from the smears on his shirt the other night…heh, heh, heh…"

          "Oh!"  Amelia's voice caught in her throat and a blushed colored her cheeks.

          "Val!  That wasn't nice," Filia whacked him on the arm.  "No one wants to hear your dirty thoughts."

          "It's the truth…He ain't no choirboy…" Val persisted, only to be pounded on the head by Lina.  She and Gourry had just settled into the seats open on Val's other side.  "Ow!  What was that fer?"

          "For whatever, you name it.  You probably deserved worse," Lina said, then pushed him back in his seat so she could look down the row for her food-boy.  "Zel?  Send that popcorn thisa way!"

          "Yes, _sahib_…" Zel muttered.  He was sitting beside Amelia with Sylphiel's fiancée, Tarou, on his other side, followed by Sylphiel and Martina bringing up the rear.  He passed the popcorn, then the drink and candy all the while pointing out that Lina was the destination, not anyone else's mouth.  "You can take it up with Lina if you want, but I don't think she'll want to share or have your grubby little hands on her food.  Take heed."

          The movie had been out for several months so the theater was not crowded.  They could all see and were comfortable as the lights dimmed then…after ten minutes of previews, the feature presentation began…

          Zelgadiss found himself in the role of 'educator' for the young Japanese man.  He kept up a running commentary throughout the two and one half hour movie, pretty much explaining the plot devices, names, cultural oddities, and untangled language difficulties.  Zel was an expert on Tolkien and Tarou was an appreciative audience.  Oddly enough, Lina was busy doing the same task at the opposite end of the row, only she was explaining it all to Gourry, who had never read the books completely—although he _had _tried…he had _meant _to…really! 

          Amelia took pride in Zel's helpful attitude.  At last he seemed to be coming out of his shell and befriending that 'poor guy' was just…well, a very special and kind gesture, she thought.  She didn't have to monitor him any more, she decided; Zel was coming along nicely.  Now, Xelloss, he seemed a little, well, not blue, exactly, but…subdued.

          "Mr. Xelloss?"

          "Hmm?"  he leaned toward her and down so that he could hear her without her having to disturb folks around them.

          "Having fun?"

          "Me?  Of course I am.  You?"

          "Yes, but Oooooh….that Gollum guy looks real doesn't he?"

          "He does.  Great computer design.  You know, change the hair color and that Frodo character looks like Zelgadiss, don't you think?"  Xelloss smiled as the breath caught in her throat.

          "Gasp, w-why yes…I thought so too but…we shouldn't tell him, should we?"

          "Oh no!  He'd get all defensive.  Besides we've gone to too much trouble convincing him of the 'elf' thing to switch roles on him now," Xelloss gave her a knowing look and winked.

          "You are such a tease, you know that, Mr. Xelloss?  Is everything going okay at home, between all three of you guys living together?"  Amelia probed carefully.  She didn't want to shut down Xelloss open communication port by questioning him too deeply.

          "Never been better.  Now, shhhh, this is my favorite part…the dead faces in the marshes…."  He said in a scary voice the sent shivers down and through Amelia.  He patted her arm gently and left his hand on hers, a comforting gesture, nothing more.  He hadn't meant to scare her much.  He forgot how much younger Amelia was; she seemed so mature most of the time.  And aside from Lina, she was the girl he found easiest to talk to; she was knowledgeable on many topics, wasn't silly or snotty, and she had a pretty good sense of humor.  He smiled inside when he thought of how difficult a time Zelgadiss had talking to her, though.  How amusing…

          Gourry was having a grand time.  He has Lina's attention fixed exclusively on him, a huge bucket of popcorn—all his since Zel had gotten one for Lina before the show started—and nothing to do.  Just listen and watch.  No expectations from anybody.  So soothing…dark and warm…full tummy…Lina's voice…

          "Gourry you…**jell-o-for-brains-idiot**!  Don't you fall asleep on _me _when I'm talkin' to you!  I'm_ givin' _you the stuff you need ta follow the story.  Now, listen up!"  Lina punched his shoulder and took his popcorn.  "And you can share some of this, or go get me more…oh, and I could use another soda while you're up, too!"  she called after the tall blonde as he blocked the view of twelve people by standing up, and moved out of the theater.

          Oh yeah, well…it had been very good for a while there.  Just pick up a few things and…oh, Lina would like that candybar, he bet, and bought that as well.  Soon he'd have everything squared away again and things would be just fine.  Yep, just fine indeed.  If he'd thought Xelloss getting a girlfriend would have made his life so much easier, he would have gone out and gotten one for him.  Maybe he'd have to pay a little more attention to what was going on with his friends.  Yeah, but that was so confusing most of the time.  People just kept coming and going.  Ah…there was Lina and the empty seat next to her.  At least _some_ things stayed the same.

          "Here ya go, Lina," Gourry whispered as he took his seat as quietly as possible.

          "Eh?  Oh, snacks, thanks, Gourry.  You can come in pretty handy at times, ya know?"  Lina's yes glittered in the half-darkness.  "Look at the Ents, now.  Looks real, huh?"

          Gourry snaked an arm over the back of her seat and placed a big hand carefully on her shoulder.  After a count of ten, he breathed again.

          "If you use that to sneak food," Lina warned, "then I'll bite it off."

          Gourry smiled, "Okay."  Like he was that dumb!

When the movie was over, Sylphiel sought out Zelgadiss.  Before he climbed into his car she scooted close and gave him a quick little hug.  Gratefully, she whispered, "Thanks, Zel…for talking to Takou-kun and treating him like…he's a friend.  Um…I think he was worried that it was his fault my friends were ignoring me.  I-I told him that like…you were all just giving me space to be with him some…Oh, and especially thank you for inviting him to our practice.  He's sooooo excited.  Oh, I gotta go!'  She pressed a kiss to Zel's cheek and skittered off.  "I'm coooomiiiiing!"

          Amelia smiled and covered her face in attempt to hold back an onrush of giggles.  The expression on Zel's face, along with the obligatory blush at the close contact, was priceless.  When she uncovered her face, she found him in conversation with two other friends.

          "Kagome, Inu….ah…yes, it's my new car…"

          Inu grumbled something about 'rich kids' as he practically panted to get in and drive the hot sports car.

          "I know it's a bit…much," Zel said sheepishly.  "But I did lose everything I owned, including my old car, when our house was destroyed and I needed a way to get Xelloss and myself to the university each day since the high school cut the budget for a bus to get us back by lunch time…So when I got the insurance settlement, well…"

          Inu flashed him a knowing smile of sorts, "Yeah, I woulda done the same.  Ah…I was wonderin'…"

          "Would you like to take Kagome around town in it?"  Zel stared the other boy directly in the eye to show he meant it.

          "Yeah…" Inu grinned wickedly and turned to his girlfriend.  "Hey, hear that?"  He caught the car keys Zel flung at his head in a blur of motion while continuing to talk.  "The guy's all right.  Can I have it fer an hour?"

          Zel nodded and scribbled an address into his pocket notepad and tore off a page.  Handing it to the gruff-voiced boy, he said, "This is where I live.  Slip the keys in the mail box if the house is dark when you come by.  Just be sure it still has some gas in it though, I need it in the morning."

          "That's sweet of you, Zel," Kagome said.  "But how will you and Xelloss get home.  He's looking for you…over there."

          "Don't worry about it.  Have fun," Zel waved them off and turned to look for the remnants of his friends.

          "Hey, Zelgadiss?  You're lending…him…your car?"  Xelloss asked as he trotted over.

          "Yes."  Zelgadiss shouted over his shoulder to his other friend, "Amelia? Just a second, Xelloss.  Amelia!  Can your driver give us a ride home?  Val's taken off."  Zel, acting far more animated than he had in years, was surprising his friends.  He never asked others for favors, but now he felt he could.  Friends could do that.

          "Oh, Mr. Zelgadiss, of course.  And tell Mr. Xelloss he can come too!"  Amelia cried out.  She was thrilled to do _her_ Zelgadiss a favor of any sort.  She placed a call for a van pickup without hesitation. 

          In answer to their unasked questions, Zel began.  "The worst case is…he bangs it up.  I get it fixed then.  In the mean time, someone gets to have a good time and maybe…maybe…he doesn't slaughter me in fencing this year."

          That made them all laugh.

          "I'd invite you both in, but it's late and Daddy expects me up early tomorrow."

          "Thank, but we weren't looking for an invitation.  It is late.  Good night.  And thanks for the lift!"  Zel said as he and Xelloss got out to the van and headed up the walk to their house.

          Special attractors.  (In reality, this is real physics based on the book _Chaos _by James Gleick)

          "I diverge to an area of Chaos theory I always found most fascinating as a physicist.  I often thought about turbulence.  A smooth-flowing fluid does not act as though every piece of it is capable of infinite independent motion.  Instead, bits that start near one another tend to remain nearby, like husky wolf-dogs harnessed to a sled.  You see, _flow _is more orderly and more readily explained, but turbulence such as oil in a pipeline, creates stupefying drag.  What about the vortices and eddies in blood vessels, or those evolving in explosions, smoke, flames, shock waves?  How does a smooth flow suddenly turn turbulent, I ask?

          "Turbulence is just a mess of disorder at all scales, small eddies within large ones.  It is unstable and dissipative, meaning that turbulence drains energy.  Motion turned random eventually dies away.

          "Think of the channel below a rock in a stream.  It becomes a whirling vortex that grows, splits off and spins away downstream.  Alternatively, take a plume of cigarette smoke.  It rises smoothly for sometime, and then splinters into wild eddies.  Add a little energy and chaos takes over.  A trickle of water will follow a simple path down the drain, but turn up the water and watch it roil and bubble.  Now that is chaos!

          "Enter the strange attractor.  It lives in phase space as one of the most powerful inventions of modern science.  Phase space gives a way of turning mathematical numbers into pictures, abstracting every bit of essential information into describing a system and creating a map of all its possibilities.  So there is a chaotic system with lots of energy, stuff just flying around, then…add some realism—FRICTION—to slow things down.  The friction dissipates the system's energy and in the phase space the dissipation shows itself as a pull from the higher energy to the lower energy locations.  The attractor is like a pinpoint magnet embedded in a rubber sheet.

          "The attractor displays infinite regress—like an unending sequence of Russian nesting dolls, one inside the other.  Using computer modeling, the eerie effect of the strange attractor can be appreciated when a shape emerges in time point by point, like a ghost of the mist.  New points scatter so randomly that it is incredible when a structure appears.  Given any number of points, it is improbable to guess where the next will appear--except of course, that it will be somewhere near the attractor.

          "The points wander so randomly, the pattern appears so ethereally, that it is hard to remember that the shape is the attractor.  So, you turn on the water and watch the drops splash around.  Hard to describe that chaos, except that you know that it will all eventually go down the drain—as if they are attracted to their demise.

          "Yes, revealed by computer exploration, the strange attractor has grown from a mere possibility to become something physicists see everywhere, whenever nature seemed to be behaving randomly.  Maybe the earth's weather lies on a strange attractor?  The stock market!  

"Disorder is actually channeled, seemingly into patterns with some common underlying theme.  I decided to give the themes I had been studying a name, chosen from my homeland.  I call mine, Mazouku, and the strange attractor, Xelloss."

Xelloss closed his eyes and set down the notebook of writings from his father's office, something he had managed to stow away and save from fire and mildew.  Then he knew, through a complicated series of interactions, that his father had discovered…no CREATED… the most special attractor of chaos of all time, himself.

Well that explained a lot.  Why his life was so messed up…why everything bad happened to him.  He attracted it.  He diluted and scattered chaos around himself and then sucked it up.  Cool.

Xelloss lay down, tears welling in his eyes briefly, and then fell into despair, crying himself to sleep.  Hopeless, life was hopeless, his future was hopeless and now he knew why: he was a special attractor Mazouku of the highest order.

**((((.-)) Zel   |||^.^|||  Xelloss  |{{^.^}}|  Lina  ||{.^}|| Gourry  ((^.^)) Amelia**

            (Ed.--If you experience a bit of déjà vu, that's all right.  The following is a take-off on the original starting chapter for the series, with necessary modifications to reflect the changes to the kids, which have occurred.)

Summer was almost over, only another week until classes at Seyruun High School would start.  Today everyone was picking up their class schedules, paying fees, and greeting friends not seen all summer.  At the center of the whirlwind of activity, stood a petite, fiery redhead named Lina Inverse, third year student at Seyruun High School.  She extruded confidence and 'can do' energy, and so, attracted followers like moths to a street-lamp.

            "Ah, ha!  Yes!" she cheered, "Got 'em all **again!**  Hey, Zel, how about you?"

            Zelgadiss, known to everyone as Zel, was sitting apart, slight smile at the side of his mouth.  His classes were as expected: advanced literature, computer lab…Japanese 1.  He smiled slightly at this.  Zel had not exactly signed up for the Japanese class, yet, somehow, he knew he would get it just the same.  Ever since that accident in his grandfather's lab, which had left the young boy scarred on his hands and chest and over his right eye and bleached his dark hair lavender, he had shunned other kids, except Lina, of course.  He had known Lina since kindergarten.  She did not care about his looks.  In fact, she once mentioned that he reminded her of an elf, but she had been reading a lot Tolkien at the time.  But now, he had a whole slew of friends that agreed with her, in spite of his denials—he was an elf.  Nuff said. 

            "Well?  Are you listening to me?  What did you get?  Oh just gimme that!"  Lina yelled, snatching his schedule out of his grasp.  "Yeah…mostly the same stuff.  Hey, I got Japanese and ad-lit too, that's cool, Zel!"

            A gaggle of starry-eyed choirgirls chimed in, "Japanese? Ooooo we have Japanese too!"  Well, not exactly choirgirls, but Filia and Sylphiel both could sing.

"I hope we get to learn to write love poetry!" said one particularly dreamy one.  Yes, that was Sylphiel.  She swung her beautiful shiny black hair shyly out of her face and smiled at a newcomer, "Hi, Gourry.  Is everything okay?"

Gourry.  Gourry and Lina, now that was a match Zel never understood, but he had grown to accept them together knowing that someday some of Gourry's affection might spill over into Lina and put her life into a tailspin.  "Ah, hi…"  Gourry greeted Sylphiel politely, and then turned to Lina, "Ahhh, Lina!  What's this Japanese 1 class all about?!"

Before Lina could answer that, a punk dressed mostly in black decorated with studs, piercings and chains, roared with amusement.  "Japanese!  I can hardly read English!"  Ah, yes… that one.  A very tall arrogant kid with long, green hair strode up to Lina.  He draped an arm over Lina's shoulder and asked about her plans for the afternoon, "Hokuto and little Subaru's place, right?"

Lina had squirmed out from under his arm while cleverly nabbing his class schedule, "You betcher!  And yer drivin' Gourry and me!  Look, Val, we've got Japanese together too!" 

Gourry watched the incident out of the corner of one eye and smiled.  Well if Val could handle Japanese, so could he.  He just did not remember signing up for that class; course the end of last year was all kinda strange and foggy now…

Filia smiled as Val strode up to her and draped his arm over her shoulder.  Two beautiful tall reeds in the sea of shrubs.  "You're taking me and Sylphiel?"  Filia asked.

"Yeah, and I guess Lina and Gourry.  Maybe everyone, who knows?"  Val smirked, but when his golden eyes settled on Filia's blue ones, his heart melted and his smile grew sincere.  "Hey, we got history together, too.  You can be my own personal tutor." 

  Zel's head had sunk to the cafeteria table where they were clustering.  "Oh gods…Xelloss…you did it to them all, didn't you?  They all have Japanese." he murmured into his sleeve.  "Well, "he thought, "That means Filia would be there, she's pretty nice, and Sylphiel…Amelia, no doubt.  Hmmm…  I wonder if Kagome would be there?  Inu wanted her to go to Japan with him next summer and she needed to get better at the language.  And she is nice to talk to…"

"I'm taking Japanese too!" laughed a kid standing nearby.

"Oh, naturally, Xelloss!"  Zel chuckled, "That settles it." 

Zel stood and made for the door.  Lina latched onto the sleeve of his short-sleeved t-shirt, effectively restraining him.  "And where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"I'm going to go find some others and see if they all have the same class," he said, roughly removing her hand from his clothing.  "Don't stretch it out, it's new."

"You're not getting away that easily.  We're all heading out to see Hokuto and Subaru, remember?  GOURRY!  Come here, sit on Zel and DON'T LET HIM GO!"  Lina yelled.  "I have someone I want you to meet.  Stay here, I see her over there.  I MEAN IT, STAY PUT!"

Zel sat back down obediently.  There was no denying Lina her way when she had her shackles up. 

"Uhhh, Zel you know what the Japanese 1 class is, doncha?" asked Gourry.

Gourry sat next to Zel.  He looked at the paper in his hand, confusion obscuring his usually affable features.  He was dressed in his usual skater attire: baggy cargo pants with lots of pointless 'things' hanging from the pockets and a huge, brightly-colored T-shirt.  He wore his thigh-length blond hair loose with bangs partially covering his handsome face.  He was a year older, but was taking pretty basic classes, just like last year-- Zel could tell.

"It's the first year Japanese class.  Everyone's taking it, it appears," answered Zel with a faint smile.  "I'll let you guess how that happened…" 

 "…And here's my best guy-type friend, Zel.  Zel, this is Utena, star of the girl's fencing team and now for the first time a member of the new COED fencing team…so, make her feel welcome and smile a little," Lina demanded.  "Ya know, I might have ta join the team too!"

Utena's eyes narrowed just a bit at the sight of the odd-looking, scarred boy.  "Lina…Zelgadiss and I have met…several times.  The last was at that dance club last year."

"Yes!  Yeah, I remember.  You started a revolution and now our teams will be blended.  Thanks," Zel smirked.  "You can have Inu as an opponent anytime!"  He was relieved that the tall girl with the long wavy pink hair and the gorgeous blue eyes thought what he had said was funny.  He knew she was as good as or better than he was with a sword and preferred not to be her enemy.  "Oh, and stay away from the student council…ah, speaking of which, here comes one now…Amelia!"

Zel allowed Lina to introduce the two girls as he felt someone else approach.  An average-height kid with silky purple hair cut in a page-boy style stood smiling to Zel's left.  "Guess we ought to get going, huh," asked Zel without turning to look at who it was.  He _knew_.

            "My, my, Zelgadiss, why such a hurry?"  Xelloss asked smiling goofily, but eyes fixed on the attractive Utena.  "Friend of yours?"

            "Not that it's any of your business…just a minute.  Utena?  Excuse me Amelia, but my friend…"  Zel began.

            "Brother.  I'm his _older_ brother, Xelloss," he held out a hand, which Utena shook uncertainly.

            "Xel-loss…nice to meet you.  Maybe we'll have a class together?" she asked.

            "That's unlikely," Zel began as he examined his own again.  "Hey!"

            Zel's class list had appeared almost magically in Xelloss' hands.  "Let's see…We'll have advanced literature together.  Isn't that nice?  Computer lab…" he frowned a little, "Hope we can do a fun project together like last year's video tape, right?" he grinned at some mutual secret, and continued ticking off all Zel's classes, "Of course Japanese 1…and the science and math on campus…"

            Zel sighed, "You say 'of course', but you wouldn't know how we all got that class, would you?"

            Xelloss grinned, "That's a secret!"

            Zel sighed, "When did you have time to muck with the registration?"

            Xelloss placed a finger to his lips to silence him.  "Why not keep this all in the family, okay?" suggested Xelloss.

            Utena smiled, "You two are funny.  Xelloss, you fence too?"

            "NO!"  Zel supplied.  "Never!"

            "Well, I could be convinced to take it up," Xelloss smiled and then opened his eyes to gage Utena's reaction.  She did not even blink.  _Oh, she's a tough one_…he thought to himself.  "Would you be willing to teach me?  I'm a very quick learner!"

            "Ahhh, not now.  We've got to get out of here!"  Zel said abruptly.  He tugged on Xelloss' sleeve. 

            "Umm…well," Utena tried to find a way to worm out of it.  Xelloss was a little too friendly, and besides, she was just a freshman, and she didn't want to be giving anyone lessons!

            "Anytime.  I'm always available," Xelloss continued, graciously.

"**Not now**," Zel stated clearly for even Gourry to understand and gave Xelloss a not-so-gentle push towards the exit. 

            "He's such a flirt," Amelia put in.  "But he's harmless, I assure you."

            "You know Xelloss well?"  Utena asked.

            "As well as anyone can."  Lina answered.  "Ya got somethin' in common with him, though.  He lost both parents too."   

            "NICE shirt, man!"  Val admired Gourry's new t-shirt advertising some J-Pop band Lina was enamored of lately.  "You been doin' e-bay?"

            "Yeah, it's from Lina.  Their music's crap," Gourry said lowering his voice.  "But I've got girls crawlin' all over me…wantin' ta buy it."  Gourry grinned knowingly and Val gave him a 'thumbs up'.

            "Yeah, like, this one earring!  I've got this black dragon one—"

            "Whoa, with the flashy, gold eyes!  Yeah, that's so cool!"

            "Filia picked it out.  Hey, you could use a stud or two.  I could set you up…"

            "Nah, Ma would _kill_ me," Gourry shook his head.

            "Which reminds me, I got some ideas fer that German song…the bass line, ya know?  Wanna listen to it on the way?"

            "Hey Lina, me and Val are gonna go do some music on the way, you comin'?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm done here.  Amelia?  You goin' with the Zelly boys or with us?"

"Oh, Miss Lina, thank you for introducing me to Utena.  I just know she's going to win for the freshman student body president!  I am running for sophomore year president, of course," Amelia said as she waved good-bye to a group of boys, including Chiriko and Duo.

"Freshman?"  Xelloss blinked.  "I thought she was much older.  She has such…poise and grace!"

"I was thinkin' more along the lines of nobility and swashbuckle," Lina corrected him, "But…yeah, she seems older'n she is, I guess.  But you know, Amelia, I don't think she's really into student government stuff.  She hates authority-types…"

            "But why ever would she—?"  Amelia began, and Lina tried to wave it off with something about free spirits and revolutionary ideals.

Zel stood looking vacantly out the window by the door.  The halls were emptying as most the kids were heading home for one last week of vacation, happy not to have to hang around school any longer than necessary.  He shook his head.  How things had changed.  He had once liked to spend time in the science labs or the computer center, any place but home, but now…he looked forward to time alone, of course, but he welcomed his time at home with his 'brothers' and fooling around with his friends he considered to be time well spent.

 The grandfather he'd so very much wanted to move away from, was his father and not so bad a man after all—even pleasant to visit once in a while.  And as for the plastic surgery to make him look normal again, well… he could afford it now, if that was what he wanted…"Ah, great!  Now everyone's gone," he sighed.

"I'm still here," said Xelloss.  He had been standing alongside Zel, watching him silently so as not to disturb his obviously private thoughts.  "And here comes Amelia, whom you offered a ride to, I believe."

"Oh, yes…I see…"  Zel blushed to find both friends standing at his side waiting for him to move or say something.

"Shall we go then?"

"To Hokuto and Subaru's!"

"I'm ready, Mr. Zelgadiss!"

"Yeah, sure.  My car's this way…Xelloss, I think it is your turn to stretch out in the back seat."

"That's fine with me," Xelloss said cheerfully, "We don't want to be late!"

Zel shook his head, quickly scooted around the odd purple-haired kid, and practically ran out the door.  "We're supposed to pick up a cheesecake from the deli, too!  I almost forgot!"

"I probably forgot to write that down in his little planner," Xelloss whispered to Amelia as they rushed to keep up with Zel.

"Should I tell him that Val already picked it up?"  Amelia asked, a sly smile spreading to her eyes.

Xelloss raised an eyebrow.  "Oh, my, Amelia…that's good…Why don't you wait until we get to the deli, then I'll tell him, hmmm?"

"Oh, no…I can't let you have all the fun!" she chirped and scampered to the car.

"What are you guys laughing about?  Hurry up!"  Zel said urgently.

Together, Amelia and Xelloss said cheerily, "That's a secret!"  then fell into peals of laughter.

**((((.-)) Zel   |||^.^|||  Xelloss  |{{^.^}}|  Lina  ||{.^}|| Gourry  ((^.^)) Amelia**

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Twenty-three.  ~*~ 


	24. Chapter 24

**          The Slayers:** **Lina   Zelgadiss  Xelloss  Gourry  Amelia  Val  Filia  Sylphiel**

                  ~*~    Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special!    ~*~

                                          Part Twenty-four

**                                                              ~*~******

Although no one would dare question Zelgadiss' ability to follow directions, the passengers in his car were certainly wondering if they were at the right place.  'Kabuki Flats' was the swankiest apartment building in Seyruun, and for two kids to be living there together ALONE--!  It was certainly hard to believe.  But since the others pulled up there and all the Slayers assembled at the same place, they couldn't all have gone the wrong way, could they?

            Of course, when they rang the doorbell and one of the twins answered, it was a lot harder to disbelieve.  "Hey, there, Subaru!" Lina greeted him with a virile slap on the back and a big grin, both of which seemed to make him shrink.

            "How can she tell?" Val whispered down to Zel.

            "Because he did open his mouth before her," Zel whispered back as they were funneling through the door, bursting with greetings and hugs from Amelia.

            "Where's Hokuto—oh, there ya are!  We're here!" Lina said.  "And this is Filia and this is Sylphiel, the ones you don't know—back up singers, though they both have a really great song each, because our back-up singers are as good as leads in another band!" Lina said, less as bragging and more as glowing praise.

            "Pleased to meet'cha!"   Hokuto shook their hands heartily with her left, since she was stirring a pot of something fragrant with her right hand.  "Oop!"  An oven buzzer went off and she leapt to open it.  "Just a sec—my meringues are done!  Sorry that I'm such a mess, but we had some trouble with the kitchen this morning, so I'm a little late—"

            "Oh, don't worry about it!  We're so used to chaos; we'd hardly know what to do without it!"  

            Hokuto laughed.  "Is that so?  Sounds like us.  There's never any tranquil moments!  That's what this tea party is for, I guess.  We've got jasmine and earl gray all brewed and ready, so… Subaru!  Show them to the table, will ya?!" she ordered her brother.

            "Right!" he nodded and turned to them with a smile.  "Hokuto's been putting a lot of effort into this, so you'll have to forgive her if she's a little stressed."

            "Stressed?  Who's stressed?  AAAHHH!  My chocolate!"  Hokuto shrieked, and ran back and forth in the kitchen for a while, making the feathers and pears on her hat shake dangerously.  Dressed to kill as usual, Hokuto was wearing a little black dress with a striped frill around the shoulders and at the hem, fishnets, and high heels with white bows on the toes, though this was nothing compared to that hat that perched on her head like a basket of stage jewelry.  She looked like a cabaret parody of an English tea party-goer, though she was just young and cute enough to pull it off.  It was very comical to watch this character rushing about in a kitchen!  "And where's Seishirou!  He's supposed to be here—he said he'd be here twenty minutes ago!  Ooh—that man!"

            Subaru blushed at his sister's antics, and led the Slayers to a table too long for any ordinary apartment, covered with a lacy white table cloth and laden with silver and china and bright jewels—that is, edible ones!  Lina's eyes went straight to the goodies, and began to glow with that creepy, hungry light…

            "Man, I feel like an an-ach-ron-is-m," Val breathed, since he was still decked out in full punk regalia—though his cleanest, shiniest new leather and chains, to give him some credit.

            Subaru, who was wearing a suit and tie, though the suit was striped and he had a black Stetson and very shiny shoes, to label the outfit "Hokuto's choice" shook his head.  "Don't feel that way!  This is just Hokuto's way of throwing a party.  She didn't send a dress code," he smiled reassuringly, though his big, shiny green eyes were more likely to put Val off than to reassure him.

            "Hey, Hokuto!" Lina cried, taking Val's burden from him.  "Where should I put the cheesecake we brought?"

            Zel nearly choked.  Cheesecake?  But he was holding a—

            "Cheesecake?" Hokuto called back.  "You brought a cheesecake?" she appeared in the doorway holding a delectable cake, complete with a swirl of raspberry on top.

            Lina opened the box in her hand, and there was a peach-colored pumpkin cheesecake, smiling up at them like a jack-o-lantern.  

            Zel caught Xelloss and Amelia trying to stifle giggles as he opened the box he held, to reveal a dark-and-white chocolate cheesecake.

            There was a moment of silence.  The crickets dared not chirp, and no tumble weed would waft past.

            Then they all burst out laughing, and set the cakes down on the table, among the plates of pretty cookies and little sandwiches.  Hokuto brought in the tea, and set her brother to pouring it (which he did expertly), while they all settled in their seats, looking like Rocky Horror gone Alice in Wonderland.    

            About the time when Hokuto finally was able to put her cup to her lips, the doorbell rang again.  With a vehement clink of china, she and her brother both jumped to their feet shouting "I'll get it!"

            By the time they had gotten it straightened out that Hokuto was going to be the one to answer the door, Seishirou had already let himself in.  "Hello, everybody!" he called cheerfully.  "Sorry I'm late, but there was a slight emergency.  I brought a kitten for you to watch for a day, Subaru," Seishirou set down a carrying case.  "And I also picked up some--"

            "Cheesecake?" everyone ventured.

            "_Cheesecake_?" he looked at them with clownish puzzlement on his face and resettled his glasses.   "Of course not—Hokuto's making cheesecake.  I brought fresh strawberries for the chocolate fondue!"  

            They breathed a collective sigh of relief and set upon the goodies.

            While everyone stuffed their faces with treats and chattered, Subaru collected the sedated kitten from the carrier and lay the sleeping animal, a peaches-and-cream tabby, in a cushioned cat basket that seemed to exist for such a purpose.

            Lina was going for another cup of tea, when she found a certain element missing.  "Can, uh, someone pass the cream, please?" she tried to recall the manners that Luna had beat into her so many years ago.

            They cast about for it, until Subaru reappeared, and handed the little pitcher to Lina like an offering meant to satiate a hungry god.  "Sorry!  It was for the kitten," he explained, "for when it wakes up."

            Seishirou laughed.  "That's our Subaru!  Kind to a fault."

            Subaru blushed and sat down at the table again.

            "Hokuto, your cookies are excellent as always!" Seishirou praised her.  "And your cheesecake…I couldn't tell which was yours from looking, because they were all so beautiful, but when I tasted them all…" he smiled.  "It was obvious which was yours, because it was the best!"

            "Oh yeah?" Hokuto looked skeptical.  "And which was that?"

            "The one that was striped like your outfit, of course!" and he laughed, because Hokuto squealed that that wasn't hers, it was store-bought, and how could he be so insensitive—his taste buds must've been defective or something!  "I'm just kidding, just kidding!" he patted her on the hat from across the table.  "I know that you made the raspberry one, and you spent all morning on it, and you probably made Subaru cream the butter, as usual."

            "I don't mind helping," Subaru said, weakly.  As usual, he wore his gloves even while drinking tea.  At least there they looked elegant instead of simply incongruous…

            "Anyway, are you guys getting ready for the battle of the bands?" Hokuto asked. "It's coming up soon, you know."

            Lina shrugged.  "We haven't been worrying too much—I mean, we spent all of the first part of summer performing.  We might be a little out of practice, but a few more hard-core sessions will score the rust off of out instruments, you know?"

            "You seem very confident!" Subaru said.  "I'm nervous."

            "Oh, poppycock.  You'll do fine!  And your sax is always the most sad and plaintive.  I always listen for it!" Seishirou smiled.

            "I always listen for you, too," Subaru said to his tea cup.

            "Well, I listen for both of you—but I get distracted by your lead singers!  Ooh, Kamui and Fuuma are sooo gorgeous!  You're got Kamui if you like 'em cute, and Fuuma if you like 'em handsome!  It's so hard to choose!"  Hokuto laughed.

            "I haven't ever heard your music," Zel said to change the subject.  

            "Oh, they're both great!" Hokuto said, glowing.  "The Seals have a more young, fresh sound, and the Harbingers are a little more mature and dark, but…well, they're different, but both good!  Of course, I can't tell too much to the enemy camp!" Hokuto winked.

            "Right, right!" Val grinned.  "And we told ya everything, too!"

            "Oh, don't worry," Seishirou smiled, though there was something slightly cold about the way the light glinted off his glasses.  "We're not even worrying about you yet—or anybody else, really.  We never do.  We only focus on competing with each other.  Just policy, not arrogance!" he smiled to diffuse the frowns popping up around him.  "It has often led to both bands loosing badly!"

            "Who else is competing, do you know?" Amelia asked Hokuto.

            "Just about everyone!  Some established bands, and some newbies.  The Suzaku Seven are, and they'll be tough because of their fan base.  Gundam Wing, another boy-bad, though they're kind of self-destructive, and the Leafe Knights, who are a lot like the Suzaku boys, though they have more young members and I've heard their dance routines are more martial-artsy or something.  They're really big, too.  Then there's the Goddess Fantastic Club, which is a girl-band, and pretty well-established, too, so I'd watch out for them.  Oh, and that rap-group, DBZ's probably going to be there.  But there'll be others, too.  It's going to be a tough battle!"

            Zel nodded.  "I had no idea there were so many bands in the area."

            "Well, after you guys showed up, everybody and their mother decided that, after those piano lessons they had for a week in second grade, they should have a band," Hokuto laughed.

            "So, what's wrong with that?" Val grinned.  "That's about all the lessons I ever had, you know."

            "Really?  You're very good!" Subaru said.  "Our keyboardist, Karen, is good, too.  And of course, Satsuki is famous for her playing," he said with a nod to Seishirou.

            Xelloss twitched.  Satsuki.  Where had he heard that before?  And uneasiness began to settle over him, which he hid by saying, cheerfully, "Well, did I hear something about chocolate fondue?"

            Hokuto stood up as if she was about to embark on a grand exploration.  "You did, indeed!  Okay guys, enough of this work stuff!  I'll go get the pot and the hot plate, and can you get the strawberries, Sei-chan?" she gave him a sad-puppy-dog look that seemed to work wonders.

            "All right!  Let's go!" he followed her to the kitchen, and they returned quickly with the treats.

            This was something of an athletic competition, especially since they didn't have enough fondue forks, so some people had to use chopsticks instead.  First, you had to grab a strawberry before anybody else did, than you had to fight for a spot, and then maneuver the coated berry out of the way of marauding forks and a forest for people's sleeves.  It set everyone to giggling, and a few to some more-than-playful elbowing (namely Lina and Val), and everybody was ending up with more berries in the pot than their stomachs, and more chocolate on themselves than their berries.  Lina had to be tackled to keep her from plunging her hand into the molten chocolate in pursuit of her dislodged strawberry.

            "You know," Xelloss piped up, smiling at her from behind his bangs, "the game that traditionally goes with fondue is that whenever you drop the object into the pot, you have to kiss the person sitting next to you!"

            "Actually," Zel whispered to himself since no one was listening, "it's whenever a woman drops it, they kiss the host, and whenever a man does, he has to buy him a bottle of wine, but have it your way, you scheming bastard…"

            Lina turned bright red and whacked him.  "Well starting now, then!" she said, popping a perfectly coated berry into her mouth.  "See?" she said with her mouth full.  "No dropping from me!"

            "Oh, I know that one!" Hokuto giggled. "Who's up for it?  I'd love to get kissed by some of these hot Slayers guys!" she laughed, since her fondue-technique was perfect.

            But no one was, thankfully, because Subaru looked like he was going to faint.  He always dropped his, and he was sitting next to…  
  


            "Now, now," said Seishirou, "that's just a little too much.  As the resident adult, I'd have to say 'no' to that.  Especially since you," he said, very close to Subaru's ear, "have a shaky hand today!"

            Plip!  Another strawberry slid off of Subaru's fork and into the chocolate, and he excused himself in a roaring blush.  

~*~

            "Zelgadiss?"

            "Yes, Xelloss."

            "Could you just drop me off up by the university grad student dormitories?"

            "I am _able_ to…"  Zel teased.

            "_Would_ you, please?"  Xelloss said more firmly.

            "Are you visiting Miss Eris?  It's awfully late.  How will you get home, Mr. Xelloss?"  Amelia asked.  She had twisted around in her seat to face him in the mini back seat.

            Xelloss simply smiled a moment, and then answered, "I can take the last bus to my neighborhood at 12:30."

            "Fine.  We have classes but no lab tomorrow," Zel said by way of reminding Xelloss of their schedules.

            "Yeah, well…I'll either be up or not."

            "I'll take notes," Zel sighed, certain that Xelloss would be missing classes again.  

            "Thanks, little brother!  Oh, this is good enough.  Stop here.  Thanks!  Bye, Amelia!"  Xelloss called out.  The top was down on the little convertible, so he was able to just hop over the door, lighting gracefully outside the car, and then lope on.

            "Mr. Zelgadiss, aren't you worried about him…all by himself?"  Amelia asked.

            "No."  Zel turned away from the curb and drove off on a journey of his own.  "Mind if I take you home the long way?"

            Amelia felt the heat rise to her face and her heart flutter.  Suddenly all thoughts of time and curfews and grumpy fathers passed from her thoughts, to be replaced with romantic visions of unending roads winding to the eternal stars and her Zelgadiss at the wheel.  "Oh…no…wherever you want…" she whispered.

            "Good.  I need to stop at the market for dog food."  He paused, and then looked askance at the pretty girl in the passenger seat.  Her face fell.  As a tiny frown creased her eyes, a smile crinkled his.  "Just kidding, Amelia."

            Her breath caught in her throat.  "Whaa?"

            "Ah, just a weak attempt at getting back at you for the cheesecake fiasco earlier.  Sorry…um…I really had a drive in mind, to make up for the one you didn't get the other night, if you'd like?"

            "You…okay, I deserved that, I guess," she smiled faintly.  "It had better be to a really good view for that!"

            "It will be," he smiled and down shifted with a roar.

~*~

            Luna sighed wearily as she stomped out of the law school library.  She had her bar exams to study for and a class to student-teach at eight AM!  She glanced at her watch.  Twelve-thirty!  She hoped her good-for-nothing little sister was home in bed and asleep!  She had been neglecting her chores again and the place was getting messy…and high school was about to start up!  "Aaaargh!"

            Then Luna caught a glimpse of a familiar figure, a flash of purple-black, back-turned, under the street light at the bus stop.  Could that be that poor kid, Xelloss?  What's he doing here at this hour?  Doesn't he know that the bus schedule changed?  Luna stepped up her pace and headed toward the lone young man.  "Hey!  You'll be sittin' there all night, if it's the bus you're waitin' for."

            Xelloss jumped at her shout.  "Who?  Oh…Luna…"  He turned his head to hide his face in the shadows.  "I'm okay.  The bus is just a little late…"

            "No, you didn't pick up the new bus schedule.  Six to twelve at this stop, eight to one AM at the student union building.  I don't know why, but I can guess that it saves some agency money.  Come on, I'll give you a ride home."  Luna would not take no for an answer, and so he agreed half-heartedly.

            "I haven't been by your new place so you'll have to point it out to me," Luna said.  As she turned to glance at him, a gasp escaped her lips, "For Cephied'sake!  Xelloss what happened to you?"

            Xelloss placed a hand over his mouth to cover up his swollen mouth and cut lip.  "Nothing."

            "You look like you've been in a fight?  Who did that to you?"  Luna's eyes burned a hole through his mask.

            "Just a misunderstanding."

            "Why are you here alone?"  Luna continued.  Xelloss was hiding something and she didn't like it at all.  Then she thought about the last time she'd run into him.  Eris.  Eris…  "You were visiting that girl…Eris, tonight, weren't you?"

            He was about to say, "None of your business," but then there was something about Luna, the Knight of Cephied, that broke down many barriers and forced the truth from his lips.  "Yes."

            "You're bleeding.  Don't look!  I'm taking you to my place and clean you up first.  I'd hate to think of Val or Zel finding you sprawled on the bathroom floor in a faint.  No arguing!"

            He just curled up against the car door and stared out the window at the passing lights.  Silent.  When they got to Luna and Lina's house, she dragged him into the kitchen, sat him down to watch the water boil for tea, and pilfered the medicine cabinet for antiseptic lotion and bandaging.

            "Hold the ice over your mouth," she ordered.  "I've done all I can it for now."

            "Thank you."

            "Hold it there!  Eris...  She's a creepy, mean girl, Xelloss.  She's the one that hit you, isn't she?"

            Xelloss closed his eyes and said nothing.

            "What does she want you to do for her?  There's always something," Luna continued to prod the recalcitrant guy.

            "Xelloss, I'm trying to help you here.  Oh, curse that male pride in you!  Anyone can be abused, if you allow it!  How can you of all people put up with it?  Well…you are NOT going to see her again, tell me that!"

_Lina turned in her sleep growling at the sound of a door closing and voices from the kitchen.  Luna was home…_

            "She…" he took a long shuddering breath, obviously working very hard to hold back his tears.  "…is t-teaching our c-chemistry class.  I…will see her frequently."

Not just Luna…a male voice as well… 

            __

            "You are taking a class from her _and _dating her?  You really are an idiot, Xelloss!"  Luna said, barely controlling her voice.

            "That's me…"

            "Did you sleep with her?"  Luna asked bluntly.

            Xelloss looked at her again about to tell her to stuff it, but instead shook his head, "No…"

           "Thank the gods…" she put a hand on his shoulder and made him look at her.  "You have to be careful, Mr. Metallium." 

            _Luna never had guys over.  They had rules…  Lina sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes._

            "I've heard all the 'safe sex' talks, Luna.  I don't need another mother…" he sneered.

            "I'm not talking disease control, idiot, I'm talkin' paternity suit."

            His eyes widened and his mouth formed an 'O'.

            "Yeah, you are worth a bundle, and your offspring stand to inherit … well, a devious lawyer could un-bundle that bundle pretty fast, you can bet."  Luna sat back in her chair and sipped at her hot tea, watching for some emotions to flicker across his face.  His mask was good, but she was trained to read the syndicate-trained well.  However, he revealed little.

            "I wouldn't worry.  She was horrified by my scars, Luna.  She slapped me hard thinking I was some kind of masochist, I guess."  He looked at Luna unreadable expression on his face—sincerity?

            "Scars?"

            "Chest and back.  She, ah…put her hand…um…she touched them and I think it scared her."  He pulled up the edge of his t-shirt to show her a sliver of his stomach area channeled with marks.

            "That was all?"  Luna asked unconvinced.

            He nodded and said no more.

            "I'm so sorry, Xelloss," Luna whispered.  Her tenderness cracked his tenuous hold on self-control, and he began to cry.

            Luna removed the ice from his hand and patted his back.  "Gods, it's late.  Come lie down on the couch and I'll bring you a blanket.  Sleep here tonight.  I can't send you home in such a mess."

            _Lina crept out of her bed and cracked open her door to hear better.  Whoever it was, they were in the front room now._

            He collapsed onto the couch.  "I-I have classes in the morning."

            "So do I.  I've got to be up around seven.  Plus…we don't want sissy-poo to wake up and find you here and start asking questions, do we?"  Luna was startled by the flash of horror in his eyes, followed by a deeper sadness.  "Oh, you poor boy…"  Luna sat on the edge of the couch and pushed his bangs away with her fingers.  "You're still hung up on Lina, too?"

            A sob escaped, as Xelloss covered his face with an arm.

            "Just let it out.  I'll get you a blanket."

            _Who is it?  Some guy's crying…Oh!  It's HIM!  What's HE doing here with my sister?!_

            "This ought to do, sweetie.  Now go to sleep.  Half of the trouble is that you're beat.  Besides…you know what you can tell your friends if they ask about the fat lip?"

            "No.  What?"

            "You tell that you tried to put the make on the chick too fast and she had to beat you off," Luna smiled.  "Gods you are just too cute; they'll all believe it, too!"

            Xelloss wiped off his eyes and looked up at Luna, a subtle smile playing at the corners of his mouth, "Thanks…"

            "No sweat.  Good night…  So, what's with that look?"

            "If I didn't know better," he said seriously.  "I'd say you liked me."

            Luna sighed, "You're lucky I'm not in a fighting mood myself.  Now shut up and go to sleep!"

            _Lina scrambled back into her own bed, feigning sleep, her mind racing…wondering…why is Xelloss over here?_

~*~

"So you think he really likes Eris?"  Amelia asked as the cooling wind blew in her face.  As the car came to a stop, she ran her fingers through her dark locks to straighten them out a bit.

Zelgadiss pulled into a parking space and turned off the motor. Now was not the time to discuss Xelloss.   "A little," he sighed, and then changing subject he pointed out the brilliant Pleiades star cluster, glowing fuzzy in the night sky.  "The Pleiades is a young cluster containing bluish-white stars; the brightest objects in the group are all B-type sub-giants or main sequence stars.  Too bad we don't have a pair of binoculars or a telescope…if we did then we could see its dipper shape."

Amelia smiled and squeezed his hand, "Really?  What's the name of that bright star there?"

"That's Aldebaran.  Not only is it the 13th brightest star in the sky, but it's also a double star.  One's a red dwarf…I'm not boring you am I?"  Zel asked uncertain what else to talk about, but Xelloss was definitely not one of his chosen topics of conversation.

He could have been reading the back of a cereal box, for all Amelia cared at the moment.  Besides, it reminded her if when her mother used to point to the sky and tell the stories of the stars…  "Oh, no, please go on…  Near Al-de-baron…what are those stars?"

 "Oh, that's another star cluster called the Hyades.  All those stars make up the constellation known as Taurus the Bull, you know," Zel said pointing out the shape in the air with one of his long slender fingers.  "It's really better seen in winter, but it's usually too cloudy to see much…Amelia?"

"Hmmm?"

"Oh, you were just so quiet, I was afraid I'd talked you to sleep."

No chance of that!  "It's so beautiful here.  I'm so glad you brought me here to see this outlook over Seyruun.  Very dark…"

"Dark.  Yes, well…um…it has to be to see the stars.  The city lights are blocked so the sky is visible," Zel cleared his throat, which had suddenly become very dry.  "So…have you heard anything from Kiki?  Will she be back in time to start this year?"

"I'm afraid not.  Her parents begin teaching in winter quarter, I understand, so she might be arriving late like last year.  Plus the house…they are going through with that and using Mr. Gourry's family business to construct it.  I don't know how indebted they will be to Mr. Xelloss, though…"  Amelia's cheerful face clouded over.  "Or how Kiki will accept Mr. Xelloss dating Miss Eris.  I think she half expects him to be waiting for her."

"Oh."  Zelgadiss had hoped to avoid discussing Xelloss, but the conversation always seemed to end up touching on him.

"You really don't know how he feels?"  Amelia pressed.

"No, Amelia.  It's not something we spend time talking about.  I think he has to get out there and experience life and learn…and he can't do that with me hovering.  We really are unalike, in the way we view life, in our goals…He and Val have more in common in some ways.  That's what makes the three of us good roommates, I guess."  Unexpectedly, Zelgadiss found himself talking to Amelia as if she were…like Lina…an old and comfortable friend, and when he did, he realized that it was enjoyable and more topics came to mind.

"Your sister, Nahga…  Isn't she due back soon?"

"Oh!  I forgot to tell everyone!  Yes, I talked to her last night.  All she wanted to talk about was this guy…Adam Hayate.  She met him when Lina and I were visiting.  We were playing miniature golf while Gracie-- that's the name she was born with, you know—chased Adam through the course.  She finally trapped him at the snack bar," Amelia said.

"Adam…what did you think of him?"

"Poor guy…but actually he was very nice and smart, too!  He had light brown hair…um…dark but lightened on top from lots of sun, I think.  Glasses…those fashionable ones with no rims?  He was dressed tastefully, kinda like Mr. Xelloss, and…oh!  He said that he was a college freshman in physics at the University of Seyruun.  Maybe he's in your class?"

Zel was still bogged down in Amelia's description trying to imagine who Adam might be.  "We were supposed to be in a physics class but it was cancelled and we got shuffled into a chemistry-major chem class, so probably not.  What did you say his last name was?"

"Hayate, Adam Hayate, I think…or his name is Adam in English and Hayate is his Japanese name.  Anyway, she's coming back tomorrow.  Daddy and I are going to go pick her up…"  Amelia straightened suddenly and nearly jumped out of her car seat.  "Oh, no!"

"What is it, Amelia?"

"Oh," she moaned.  "I was supposed to go right home because Daddy and I have to get up really early!"

"Oh.  Well.  We'll do our best," Zel said quietly.  "Your dad's going to kill me anyway, isn't he?"

Amelia looked mournfully over at Zel and nodded.

"Oh, joy…" he sighed and started the engine.

~*~

            Luna was unable to wake the sleeping boy the next morning; he just looked too peaceful for a change.  Instead, she placed a call to Zelgadiss explaining where Xelloss was, but not the 'why' exactly, and then left.  "Lina and Xelloss will just have to deal with one another," she decided.

            Lina woke with a start and check the time on her alarm clock.  "7:45!  What the crap…  What am I doing up at this hour?"  She heard the front door close and lock.  "Luna…"  Lina crashed back down onto her pillow.  Her eyes flew open as she remembered.  "…And Xelloss?  No…" she moaned and closed her eyes again.  "Must sleep…just…a dream…"

            The next time she awoke, it was closer to 11:00.  The clock ticking in the kitchen was the only sound in the house.  "Food!"

            Lina shook out her hair, yanked on a tank top and shorts, then padded barefoot to the kitchen to survey the larder.

            Xelloss awoke abruptly.  He shook the remnants of his re-occurring nightmare from his mind and sat up with a groan.  "Ugh…"

           "Aaaah!"  The glass Lina was about to fill with milk slipped from her hand and landed on the linoleum floor, shattering on contact.  

            crash!

            "**_Who's there_**?!"  both Lina and Xelloss called out from their respective locations.

Instantly they both realized that they knew who 'was there'.

"Lina?"

"Xelloss.  What the hell are you doing sleeping on my couch?" she asked roughly, that is until she walked in and got a good look at his face.  "Oh, gods…Xelloss…Not again?  I'm getting' kinda tired of you getting' messed up all the time, ya know?"

"Actually…I do know.  I'm pretty sick of it myself.  I should have avoided this, but…well.  The worst part was that I missed my bus home last night and Luna spotted me and gave me a ride back here."

"Here?  Why not at your place?"

"Ah…blood, fainting…I think she was afraid I'd hurt myself more.  I really don't know, you should ask her concerning her motivations, not me."

"Eh...you needn't get all snippy about it Xelloss.  It's yer business.  Well, who ever did that to your lip didn't connect too well.  At least it doesn't _look_ bad.  I bet they look a whole lot worse, right?"

"Yes," Xelloss attempted a smile, but the pain stifled it somewhat.

"So…"  Lina stared hard this time.  "Wanna have breakfast and tell me about it?"

"Yes…and, um…no.  I'd like some tea and toast, if it's no bother."

"You, Xelloss are always a bother of some sort, but the food's no problemo," she said with a shrug and waltzed back to the kitchen.

Xelloss dipped into the bathroom.

~*~

Zel watched Eris carefully throughout the lecture.  From the nervous glances his way, he assumed she wanted to see him for a moment after class and question him about Xelloss.  Well, he wouldn't do that.  What ever happened, he was not going to become a party to it or a go-between.  Friendship had its limits.  He'd stick out his neck and risk his life for his best friend, but lovers' quarrels were beyond the job description as far as he was concerned.  Besides, he'd had enough of a 'good' time last night after he had brought Amelia home 'way late' without a call ahead.  

Zel moaned at the remembrance.  His inability to follow 'Phil's Rules' put his, and Amelia's honor in question.  Apparently, 'a drive through the hills and watching the stars' was dating to that man, and Amelia had a couple more months to wait until her father considered her old enough by his standards.  Sixteen.  Fine by Zel.  What was worse, though, was that her 'daddy' was sure that Zel had been 'up to no good' as he put it.  Gods…how embarrassing that was!  He'd practically been accused of seducing Amelia!  Poor kid.  Amelia had been just as humiliated as he had been, maybe more so…it was her father saying it all.  They had both had to sit through an excruciating 'safe sex' talk by Phil, no less, all the while trying to deny that anything had 'happened'.  

Zel moaned again, this time loudly enough to draw the attention of the kids around him.  It was just horrid in every way.  Then Xelloss never came home.  What was with that?  And Luna's call?

"…Laboratory classes begin this week.  Read up and be prepared…lectures will continue and discussions as before…"

Zelgadiss woke up out of his trance.  Class was over and what had been said?  "Um, excuse me," he asked of a girl behind him.  "What was that about labs?"

"The Tuesday/ Thursday night labs start this week."

"_Night _labs?"  Zel was astonished.  "I thought they were in the morning."

"Check your schedule.  It says 8-11 PM doesn't it?"  The girl seemed ready to run.

Zel quickly pulled out his crumpled schedule and read it for the thousandth time.  "Oh…shit…It's so smeared…I just assumed everything was AM…  So we have classes Monday through Thursday and labs two nights a week as _we-ell_?"  His voice cracked on the 'well'.

"Well…Wednesday is a discussion to go over problems, not a lecture," the girl said wearily.  "You're new at this, huh?"

"Obviously…" he muttered and sank back into his seat.  Two nights!  Those were to be band practice nights!  Homework-doing nights!

"Zelgadiss?"

Zel looked up.  The classmate had disappeared and Eris stood over him instead.

"Hi."

"Where's…your brother this morning?" she asked with a note of concern.

Zel considered his answer carefully before opening his mouth.  "He did not come home last night. "

"What?  He left my room to catch the last bus home in plenty of time!" she said.

Zel simply shrugged.  "I wouldn't know.  Um, I have to run.  Try calling him, that's all I can suggest."  He made a show of collecting his gear and pushing off to the door, leaving Eris to stand alone, and wonder.

~*~

            "Thanks for the tea, Lina," Xelloss said standing to go.  "I'll clean up, then get out of your hair."

            "Nah, that's okay.  No rush…Oh, you can stay and clean up!  Yeah…then…wanna work on the vocals to that song of yours?"  she asked.

            He pondered that possibility…for a fraction of a second.  "Sure, I've missed classes already.  No sense going home to an empty house or the inquisition," he chuckled a little.  "I had some thoughts about the song."

            "I'm sure you have," Lina said.  "You mentioned 'duet'?"

            "Yes.  And during the instrumental breaks, we go into a dance routine together."

            "Choreographed by you, I take it?" she asked looking at him askance for any signs of insincerity.

            "Naturally," he smiled slightly.

            "Sounds…really hot, sure…something to stir up the fans, huh?"  she grinned as he nodded.  "O-kay…lets take a look at those lyrics…Yep!  Gottem right here."

            Lina read aloud from the notes Xelloss had given her at the last band practice:

_"**Sexy, Sexy**  _(performed by Cascade) The ending theme song to Gakkou no Kaidan: 

A mirage from the other side of the evening…

I wanna meet you, wanna meet you!

I can't meet you, can't meet you!

_You_ are Utopia.

Some day if we can meet here…

I miss you, I miss you!

I need you, I need you!

Sexy, Sexy…

Hey?  Won't you come to my room?

I'll let you listen to my secret story…

Tonight, if you can't join in

Even if you take away it can't be helped…

In the wicked night, my heart was also wet,

Time can't be put back.

Come back, come back, come back, come back!

The passion's mirage sent from beyond…

Shaking, shaking, shaking, shaking!

Feels so good…paradise!

Burning if we meet there…

Shaking, shaking, shaking, shaking!

Sexy, sexy dance!

longest dance sequence until ending

The stars pale, the flowers get confused…

From the inside of the darkness, something glitters 

From the twining fingertip's mirage.

Teasing, teasing, teasing, teasing!

Let me do it little by little.

Always I'll love you like this…

I miss you, I miss you!

I need you, I need you!

Sexy, sexy you!

Oh baby, my baby, my baby, my baby

…you are Utopia!

Far off in the passion there's a mirage…

Shaking, shaking, shaking, shaking!

Over and over again…

Shaking, shaking, shaking, shaking!

While glittering…

Sexy, sexy!

Ending dance sequence "

          Lina cleared her throat and hummed a bit of the tune.  "Well…where did you say you got this translation?"

Xelloss found his voice and answered her as best he could, "Internet and a translating service and me.  It's surprising how much I must have learned even as a little kid around my father.  Japanese seems to come naturally to me, but then, most languages do."

"Yeah.  You're a regular _idiot savant_ that way.  Anyway, it needs a little work, huh?  A tweak here and there for the rhythm and some of it makes no sense to me.  Oh I know…it's about either sex or violence.  Okay I'll put in the CD.  Volume low and we'll try and fit the words in, 'kay?"

          Xelloss nodded and followed Lina upstairs to her room.  This would be fun, he decided.  Lina sounded so friendly and all today.

          "Oh and you can tell me what's up between my sister and you, while you are at it, buster!"

          He paled.  _Oh, my…well…no, _maybe not so very much fun as he had first thought…

~*~

            Zelgadiss fled the chemistry class.  He had to run to make it to the math class on time.  With the room nearly in sight, he continued replaying the night before until he was satisfied with the ending. 

He had been tired… and tired of being lectured by Amelia's father, so finally he blew up.  He had said, in as controlled a voice as possible, "Mayor.  After all this time I assumed that I had earned your trust—Amelia, too.  I will say it again and you either believe me or not…I will not defend myself beyond an explanation of what actually occurred.  We took a drive, Amelia forgetting her need to get back early by mistake.  We stopped and I pointed out stars and identified them.  We talked, and then remembered to come home.  Here we are.  Now, I am going home to sleep since I have classes in the morning.  Good night, Sir!"  He had then turned and stalked off without waiting for any more from any one. 

            Now he thought he should call Amelia and see how she was faring.  He hoped that what he had said had not made more trouble for her.  He wasn't a 'bad' kid and he had always followed the rules, but he was getting used to his independence from adult authority and, he guessed, growing a spine while he was at it.  If Phil didn't trust him, then so be it.  He wasn't about to kowtow to that man or any other for it, that was for sure.

            "Hayate!" 

            The shout broke into his revere.  Zel was just outside the door to the classroom, when he heard the name.  _Now where had he heard that name before_?  He was about to dismiss it, but his acute hearing picked up the hushed tones with an angry edge.

            "Don't call me that here," the other voice hissed.  "I'm _Adam_. Remember that!"

Zel turned ever so slightly to catch a glimpse of the two males belonging to the voices.  The one taller with jet-black hair and steely eyes stood with his fists clenched, as the other guy with hair that was practically white, backed off, "Yeah, yeah…later then…"

Before they could notice him, Zel whipped his head around and dipped into his classroom.  "Hayate…Amelia mentioned a freshman here, but…how had she described him?  Brown hair…glasses?  Not that guy, I guess.  Oh, well…"

~*~

            "Hey, okay!  I think that's gotta be it, doncha think so?"  Lina asked as she stopped the CD for the hundredth time.  "Those words fit the beat and make enough sense for a dance tune."

            "I agree," Xelloss said with a tilt to his head.  "You are a very talented lyricist, Lina."

            "Yeah, just another of my remarkable qualities," she tossed out.  "I need a drink.  Want one?  Okay, back to the kitchen then…"

            A pitcher of lemonade and a box of cookies later, Lina leaned back in her chair, refreshed.  "We need ta get goin' on that song for Zel and Val's German rant.  Not today and not us but at the practice."

            "Don't you think we should go over all the songs for the battle of the bands?  We haven't even decided on the final five we're supposed to have ready," Xelloss reminded her.

            "No sweat.  But I meant after the band thingy anyway.  Gods, and then school starts.  I can't believe summer's almost over!  I kinda wish it would start all over."

            "I don't," Xelloss said in a low voice.  He looked particularly serious.

            "I didn't mean _repeat_ it all!  Geesh, Xelloss…  I wouldn't wanna go through all _that_ again.  I'd just like ta laze around and do more writing.  I haven't gotten very far on our story and more keeps happening that I need ta add in.  Lucky for me, I've got you and Zel with the photographic memories to help out if I get in a bind, eh?"

            "Sorry," he said frowning slightly.  "I must have had too many hits to the head.  I hardly remember last year at all any more.  So, are you ready to learn the dance steps I had in mind?"

            The sudden change of subject and demeanor was not lost on Lina.  She knew Xelloss as well as anyone, she figured, and recognized that something was troubling him.  _Probably the 'Luna' incident_, she decided.  She also determined that she would pry it out of him before long.  She could not take the chance that he might suffer a meltdown crisis around the time of the band contest, that was for certain!

            "Okay.  So what kind of dancing did you have in mind?"

            "Did you ever see that movie called 'Dirty Dancing'?"  he asked with the return of his smile.

            "No, should I?"

            He nodded, "I think you should.  It will give you a feel for the style.  We can go rent it and watch it, if you have time?"

            "Yeah, sure.  The exercise will do us some good."

            "Not only that," he added, his smiling growing wider.  "The pastry shop is nearby, as well as Mrs. Shearer's deli!"

            "Deli…"

            "And it is close to lunch time…" he whispered.

            "Hey, I know that!  I'm goin' already!  Ya don't have ta lure me with food," she said gruffly.  Then with a cute smile she added, "But…if you're buying?"

            "Whatever you want!  Movie and lunch it is, Lina."  Xelloss followed her out the door of her house, stopping only to close the door behind him.  Well, if she wouldn't be his girlfriend, he was glad she was willing to be his good friend still.  Besides, one never knew…

~*~

            When Zelgadiss drove by his new house, he was unable to park closer than half a block away because of all the trucks and utility vehicles clustered like flies on pie.

            "Holy shit…" he muttered then jogged around the house to the back where a sizable part of the fence had been removed to make way for the crane operator.

            Val and Filia were standing under the shelter of back of the garage.  "Hey!"

            "I forgot all this was happening," Zel shrugged.

            "Yeah, well I guess they wanna get this outta the way so they can start on buildin' Kiki's place next.  Gourry said they got the job and were faxin' a few changes to the blueprints back and forth.  's gonna be cool, ain't it?"

            The crane lowered the gigantic hot tub into its designated spot as the kids watched.  On hand were the plumbers and electricians installing power and outdoor lights, water for the showers and tub, and an automatic watering system for the garden area.

            "I can't watch…"  Zel groaned.  "Is Xelloss back yet?"

            "Isn't he with you?"  Filia asked.

            "No.  He didn't make it back last night.  I did get a call from…a reliable source, telling me he was fine.  Well, he'll turn up someday, I suppose.  You won't believe what I found out today, though!"

            Zel then told them his sad tale of late-night chemistry labs to destroy his life.  "I mean…I wanted to go to the dojo and do fencing and have band practices and…shower and…"

            "Well, don't give up on showering," Filia frowned, and then laughed at his exasperated expression.  "Why don't you just forget it and just take high school classes this year and then do the university full-time next year?  It seems to me you and Xelloss are just making your lives more difficult for irrelevant reasons."

            Zel just shook his head and shoved open the sliding glass door to the house.  Might as well get started on his _irrelevant _homework…

~*~

            Comfortably established with giant pastrami on rye, coleslaw, bean salad and potato chips, Lina put off her interrogation of Xelloss until the dessert course arrived.  Why ruin a good meal, eh? 

            Xelloss seemed to sense this, as he had kept up a constant flow of treats to the table, and since he had hardly taken a bite himself, it was obviously all for Lina's benefit.  

It was about the time of her second slice of cheesecake that Lina shoved back her chair a bit and asked, "So are you going out with my sister now?"

Had it been Zelgadiss caught mid sip, he would have choked spasmodically.  Instead, Xelloss raised a single eyebrow and answered, "No, why do you ask?"

Lina snarled, "Don't play me for the fool, Xelloss.  Just tell me why you and she were up talking late last night and be sure it explains the punch to yer face while yer at it."

Holding up his hands, palm outward in submission, he said, "Okay!  She gave me a ride home after finding me waiting at the bus stop for a bus that wasn't coming, like I told you before.  It's true!   The lip…well…I…er…"  

Now he was stumped.  If he told Lina 'the story' Luna had come up with for him, it would make him sound like a lech in front of Lina and she might become disgusted with him.  If he told her what he had told Luna, he would certainly sound like a wuss being slapped around by a girl over his scars.  But, if he told her the truth… she'd want to get involved or worse yet, get Zelgadiss involved. 

"That's a…"

"If you dare say 'secret' I will knock your pretty face off your head, got it, BUSTER!?"

He winced at the word 'pretty' (couldn't she call him 'handsome'?), shut his mouth, and raised both eyebrows. So, a partial truth would have to do then… "Oh…well.  Please promise not to tell Zelgadiss, okay?"

"Nothin' doin'.  Not 'til I know what the story is."

"Oh my… Well, you see…Eris has…er…had a boyfriend and he stormed in on us…  We were only talking, mind you!  She's really gung-ho on chemistry in particular… And he hit me before I knew what was happening.  Of course, the next second I had him pinned to the floor begging for mercy, but…well.  By the time we got rid of him my bus was gone and I was a bit of a mess when Luna found me so she offered me a ride back to your place so I wouldn't get a look at the blood and faint possibly…or something.  That's it."

Lina's eyes narrowed.  She didn't buy it.  "I think there's more to all this that you're not telling me.  Why is the boyfriend so mad at you?  Why not her?"

"I think he has issues with the syndicate.  Please, Lina, I'd rather not talk about this anymore.  It's over and done."

Lina sighed.  Okay.  She'd have to do a little sleuthing on her own then.  "Fine.  Let's go back and watch that movie while I digest."

"O-kay, do-kay!"  Saved by a stomach!  It seemed that Lina's tummy was always his greatest ally…

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Twenty-four.  ~*~ 


	25. Chapter 25

**The Slayers:** **Lina   Zelgadiss  Xelloss  Gourry  Amelia  Val  Filia  Sylphiel**

~*~    Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special!    ~*~

Part Twenty-five

**~*~**      

          Zelgadiss and Val had agreed to meet ahead of time at the practice room in order to go over the instrumental part of a new song.  Gourry would join them as soon as Lina was ready, but not much before the scheduled practice time.  Xelloss came along for the ride.  He knew his noise was not needed or wanted, and so as soon as the boys arrived, he hopped over to see what Amelia was up to.

            "Can Amelia come out to play?"  Xelloss asked with a grin.

            The Mayor twirled his moustache between his fingers and fought down a smile in return.  "She's grounded, my boy, except for the band contest, which she is committed to finishing, and any of the practices leading up to that," her father said.  "And it's too early for practice, isn't it?"

            Xelloss smiled innocently.  "We have a lot to cover.  While the others go over the instrumentals, I thought she and I could practice the vocals."

            "You've been turned out by the other lads, haven't you?"  

            "That's right.  It's the fate of the drummer."  Xelloss struck a dramatic pose and giggled.

            "Well, I'm sorry, my boy.  Amelia broke a few rules and has to face the justice system here.  She'll join you later in the afternoon.  You, however, may feel free to use the pool table.  Just don't leave it all a mess."  The big man waited to see Xelloss' reaction.  The poor kid, no parents, wild thing…He was glad his dear Amelia was not taken with this one.

            "Thank you, sir.  I might do that!"  Xelloss smiled unconcernedly and waited until the man passed through the door.  "You going out?"

            "Yes.  To work."  Phil paused and turned to look back at the smiling boy.  "I can trust you to not go looking for her?"

            Now, Xelloss had come under the scrutiny of far worse characters than Amelia's father, and, unlike his poor brother, Zelgadiss, he had no guilty conscience to contend with, few anxieties about consequences, and even fewer about breaking a rule or two that got into his way.  He did not lie, however, so he had to choose his words carefully.  "Yes, you may.  Which way is the pool room?  Ah, yes…I remember now.  Thank you."  As far as he was concerned, the Mayor could trust him all he wanted.

            Xelloss found the pool room, setup the balls and selected a cue.  After a moment's hesitation, he thought, "This will get very boring without a little company."  He placed the cue back into its slot and left the room to search for some company…er…that is, something to eat...

            His first wrong turn brought him nose-to-pot with the cook carrying a huge cauldron of boiling water.  "Ah, that looks heavy.  Let me help you with that…" Xelloss offered.  "Mrs.--?"

            "Andrews, Mrs. Andrews, my dear," answered the harried-looking woman.

With that, Xelloss had stolen the heart of the Mayor's cook.  Not only did he heft the hot water and pour it out, he continued to schlep bags of rice, flour and countless other over-sized canisters out of the pantry and across the kitchen over to a what appeared to be the largest laundry room he had ever seen.  The pantry needed cleaning, apparently.  He wondered if something was up, though, when the cook nervously backed away from the final bags in the corner.

            "J-Just put those by that closet in the kitchen, too…if you'd be so kind…"

            "Okay…" he smiled but approached the task with some misgivings.  He could sense fear on the woman, but he couldn't detect any danger.  He shook his head wondering if he wasn't just getting paranoid with age.  

            However… As he lifted the last bag, a family of mice hopped, skittered, squealed, and scuttled out of the darkness…

            "Ahhhh!"

            "Eeeeeeeeeeeeek"

            Whichever scream was the loudest, hardly mattered as both the cook and the kid ran hell-bent for the quickest exit.  Xelloss hated the little bouncing creatures.  He dropped the bags to the kitchen floor, vaulted onto a large wooden worktable laden with meat cleavers and then sank backwards against a cupboard door, his breath coming in gasps, his chest heaving.

            After what seemed to be an hour but was probably more like a minute, the cook—a robust woman of about forty— stole a look from around the corner.  "Are they all gone?"  she whispered.

            Xelloss peered back somewhat resentfully, "Yes.  They have all high-tailed it for the greater world beyond the pantry.  Chances are you'll have them back tonight if you don't call an exterminator."  He deftly leaped to the floor and combed his fingers through his hair to smooth it down and gave the woman what he hoped would be a sober but not angry expression. 

            "Oh, I am so sorry about that…You see I wasn't sure, but…well, it was a dirty trick, getting you to find out for me and all…"

            "You _could_ have warned me…" he said sternly, but his face around his eyes softened, betraying his true feelings.

            "Yes…and I should have, I know…but then, you wouldn't have moved the bags, would you?"  the woman asked gamely, reassured by his relaxed gestures and widening smile that he was not going to** tell **on her.

            "No…I wouldn't have.  I am afra…I simply don't like the little buggers, I guess."  He smiled at his admission and folded his arms across his chest.   

            "Well, I don't either.  And I will call the exterminators, you can be sure of it!  Now, then…I must make that up to you, young man…"

            Xelloss' smile widened just a little.  "Yes you should!  Perhaps you could find the youngest lady of the house and ask if she'd like to keep me company?  In the kitchen here with you, of course!"

           The cook thought a moment, but could not come up with a good reason why not.  "If the little Missy agrees, then…Who should I say is calling?"

            "Xelloss.  We're best of friends," he assured the woman.

            It wasn't long before Miss Amelia thumped into the kitchen behind the cook.  "Mrs. Andrews said you were here," she said as she pulled up a chair across from Xelloss at the worktable.  She lowered her voice to a whisper and added, "You shouldn't be."

            "Really?"  Xelloss smiled.  "Your father warned me not to go looking for you, but..." he gave her a wink and said, "It appears you have found me instead!"

            "Oh, Mr. Xelloss…if he should find out…" Amelia looked around worriedly for the cook to come into view.

            "You're concerned that Mrs. Andrews might '_tell'_ on us?  Oh, I don't think she'll do anything of the sort.  She and I have…an understanding."

            Amelia shivered slightly.  No.  She didn't want to know.  What she did not know wouldn't hurt her…  "Oh, well…okay…but it really is probably breaking the rules…" she admitted.

            "Stretching them, maybe.  So, tell me…what did you do to get into so much trouble?" he asked.

            "Didn't Mr. Zelgadiss tell you about what happened after we dropped you off at the university?"

            "No he didn't.  I didn't make it back…  Well, let's just say I have had my own problems to contend with and leave it at that for now."

            "Oh!  Your lip, it's cut!  I'll only tell you if you tell me how you got hurt.  You didn't think I didn't notice the mark on your lip, did you?"

            "Get your mind off of my _lips_… and tell me _your_ story first," he giggled.  Embarrassing Amelia was nearly as fun as embarrassing Zelgadiss.

~*~

          They were having their first of two practices before the battle of the bands, and Lina was in charge.  When he heard that the practice was going to be intense, Sylphiel's boyfriend, promised fiancée  Tarou Yamada, wisely declined the invitation to sit in on it.  They reviewed the songs they proposed to perform, doing a quick run-through of each.  She had been driving them hard; striving for perfection while excellence was already in the bag.  It was on the second pass that Val began complaining.

            "If I gotta play this crap one more time I'm gonna puke."

            "What's that you say?"  Lina spun to lance him with a word or two if necessary.

            "No ah-fence or anythin' but…we been through them all summer and **ee**-nuff **tuh**-day.  How 'bout we look at some of that new stuff Xelloss's been printin' out?"

            "He's right," Zel agreed.  "We know this stuff backwards and forwards and if we overdue it we might start sounding stale."

            Lina shrugged her shoulders and helped herself to a soda from the cooler Amelia had recently had installed in the new practice room.  "Sure.  Whatever.  Amelia?  Ya wanna put on the CD for everyone to listen to?  It's in my bag over there."

            "I got it, Lina," said Gourry.  He was standing right next to it so he was the obvious choice.

            "No!"  Lina shouted.  "Leave it be!  I said '_Amelia', _didn't I?!  If I'd meant you, I'da said '_Gourry_', idiot!"

            He froze in place.  She had just yelled at him and called him an 'idiot', all while he was just trying to help.  His pained expression said it all as he whispered, "Sure, Lina…"

            "Of course, Miss Lina!  Ooooh what a cute tote!  I never saw you with this before.  New?"  Amelia asked.  She was shocked at Lina's outburst and tried to cover up for both her own and Gourry's embarrassment with chatter.

            "I've never seen her with a purse or a bag that stylish," Sylphiel remarked.

            "Must be that time of the month.  Lina's crabbier than usual," Zelgadiss whispered to Gourry.  "Don't take it personally."

            Gourry nodded, a trifle less confused than before and gave Zel a grateful half-smile.  Yes, Sylphiel's boyfriend had made the right decision not to come.  Zel wondered if maybe the boy wasn't a little precognizant.  Now that would be a useful talent to have…

            "Sorta.  It's my sis's that she didn't want."  Lina ignored Sylphiel's comment and Zel's whispering.

            Amelia dug through the tote bag, finding the CD and a few fresh pads stuffed down at the bottom.  She understood, now.  Lina was high-strung as it was but _some_ months she was practically an incendiary object about to blow at anytime.  Hopefully she'd be back to normal by the contest.

            "I'll get the music started while Mr. Xelloss distributes the translations, okay Miss Lina?"

            "Yeah…knock yerself out," Lina said airily with a wave of her hand.  Noticing Xelloss was rubbing one of his shoulders, she asked, "What's your problem?  Yer not gonna fall apart before the band competition, are ya?"

            Xelloss winced under Lina's attack.  "No, I'll be just fine, Lina.  I need to get back to the dojo more often to keep in shape, though.  I was thinking of Tuesdays, but it seems—Zel informed me five minutes before we were to leave the other night— that I have chemistry lab then."  He was sore because of hefting Lina up over his head in an attempt to demonstrate a potential dance move, but he wasn't about to complain about that here and now.

            "Poor baby…" Filia cooed.  "You look in shape from over here!"

            He hid his eyes in embarrassment.  Filia rarely complimented him, and even more rarely about his appearance.  Val gave them both a sharp look, while Sylphiel and Amelia giggled.

            "Well, just as long as I don't have to haul you in a bag and reassemble you there, it's all fine…" Lina said, still playing with her 'fall apart' metaphor, which made Xelloss feel a little better, though he wasn't sure if it was sensitivity or conceit on her part.

            "At least it's not as bad as I thought," Zel interrupted the train of teasing.  "I thought…well I was _misinformed_ that lab would be **both** Tuesday and Thursday nights.  As it turned out, lab's just once a week, so we picked Tuesday.

            "Yeah, you need ta keep those nights available for better stuff," Val said.

            Zel turned to give him a Jedi message, "Don't go there!"  He had told Val about his confrontation with Mayor Phil in the heat of the moment.  Now he was beginning to regret that.

            "That's right!"  Lina agreed.  "Band practice is primo, you'd better believe it!"

            "Sure…" Val chuckled deep and sinister-like.  "When he's not out puttin' the moves on…" 

            "Val…" Zel growled.  

"…young innocent little girls…" Val burst out laughing.  "You are sooo baaad, dude!"

Zelgadiss blushed maroon and sputtered, while Amelia shouted, "That's just sooooo untrue!  Mr. Val, you are sooo mean!"

This of course meant that everyone not already 'in the know' wanted to be, and so the entire fiasco was explained and the truth unfolded and the boring lack of 'good stuff' betrayed.  Nevertheless, Zel was really wishing that he had been able to foresee_ his _future and avoid the many trials and tribulations thus far.

"So even if daddy believes what Mr. Zelgadiss said, he didn't like his attitude and since I did break the curfew rules and made him worry, I got grounded until school starts—except for band stuff.  You know, I really think it just scared him, not knowing where I was and all.  He got worried and over-reacted, I think."  Amelia sighed when she was finished with her analysis of the situation.  "Oh, and I must be chaperoned around the guys, he says, but that's got to be changed.  It's…unjust!"

Val snorted, "Like I said before, you are one bad, dude, Zel-boy!"

"Coming from one who should know," Zel noted acerbically.

            "Um…" Gourry interrupted.  It was his turn to placate the errant children.  "We got that new song…the German one down.  Good enough ta add the rest."

            Lina nodded, "Yeah, its getting' there.  Play it for everyone and see if we can get the drums attached while me and the chorus see if there's anything in it for us."

            After a work out of 'My Heart Burns', the band broke for a rest and refreshments.  Xelloss had an idea, "There's music and dancing—no alcohol—at a small club near campus.  I thought I might go tonight.  Anyone else interested?"

            Val was game.  He hoped Filia would be interested.  "I haven't anything else to do," she said.

            Val offered to drive, then.

            "You meetin' up with Eris there?"  Lina asked Xelloss.

            He nodded.

            Gourry shook his head.  "I gotta help dad with the books some.  They're clearin' yer old lot tomorrow and bringin' in the backhoe.  Pourin' foundation later.  I gotta get up at five in the mornin' to help.  Sorry, guys, but I'm out."

            To his surprise, Lina said, "That's five _AM_?  Rough.  Anyway, yeah.  I haven't been out clubbin' for awhile.  And I've got those new dance routines to practice."

Zelgadiss looked at her askance wondering what she meant and caught Gourry's eye by accident.  He looked broken hearted, but only for a moment.  Gourry shook his head and crunched up his soda can with one hand.  With Lina, you just had to let her do her thing, live her life, make her decisions.  You could learn to live with that and make do, let her know how you feel about it, or hate her.  There was no changing Lina.  Zelgadiss combined a bit of the first two.  He knew Xelloss applied more of the second choice than the first and Val more of the first than the second.  What Zel didn't know was whether or not Gourry ever told Lina about how he felt about her or how her cutting remarks hurt a sensitive guy like him.  Much to his own distaste in doing so, Zel had tried to interfere with both a couple times, but nothing had changed.  Lina was still callous as ever and Gourry as resigned.

He noticed that all the attention was now focused on himself and his answer.  He gave Gourry one more glance.  This time Gourry's message to him was, "Better go an' keep an eye on Xelloss."   

"I'm not much for dancing and especially not loud clubs, but since I won't know anyone there, I suppose I can find a place to sit and enjoy the show."

"Yeah, that's the spirit, Zel!"  Lina said sarcastically.  "Live a little.  Besides, you know me so you can get in one dance with me, if yer lucky."

"Oh…" Zel smirked in return, "…joy…" 

Lina crushed her soda can beneath her foot and asked, "So, Xelloss, what other translations do you have for me?"

Xelloss smiled.  He had a very special treat for Lina that he hoped would go over well.  "Remember that anime we watched around the end of last school year called…Record of Lodoss War?  I have the words translated and the song is on this CD.  It just finished loading so I haven't any other copies…"  

His explanation was cut off by her gleeful shrieks of joy.  

"YES!  Gimme that!"  Lina hollered.  "This one ya all gotta hear.  It's the best.  Lots for the chorus ta sing, great part for me, and a real challenge instrumentally!"

Oh, yes.  It was all that and more.  A very grand, uplifting song which everyone loved and agreed to get started on immediately. 

"For that one," Lina said, jabbing Xelloss in the arm to make sure he was paying attention, "I'll even dance once with you tonight."

"How gracious of you," he said in a low voice, suppressing his pleasure, restricting it to only a leap in pulse rate.  

"Don't you think Eris might mind?"  asked Zelgadiss.

Xelloss turned his way and cocked his head to the side.  "Noooo…not if she's dancing with you."  

And then Zelgadiss sat back.  He was being set up.  That's two dances he was going to have to take an active role in already!  Against his better judgment, he opened his mouth to defend his position,  "I see.  You know, I can get my own partners…if I want to.  I'm not totally incompetent.  I just might not want to…at all!"

Filia's face lit up.  Wrong track as ever, she thought she figured out why Zelgadiss was reluctant to go dancing, and then blurted it out to everyone.  "Of course.  Xelloss, you are so _dense_ about some things, you know!  Can't you see?  Amelia's grounded and can't go and so, _obviously_, Zelgadiss doesn't want to go dancing without her.  You can be such a _moron_!"

"Whaa…?"  Zel practically gagged.

Xelloss rushed at her, unleashing his well-controlled anger just a bit.  "I am **not**!"  Not a very clever rejoinder, but he was mad and uncreative at the time.

"Huh…" Zel gasped.

"You sure are!" she yelled back.  They now stood about a foot apart in a stand-off.  "You're book-smart, but when it comes to romance you are so unaware of even the simplest of facts much less the subtle nuances..."

"Um…" Val tapped her on the shoulder.  "I wouldn't go that far…He was out with his girlfriend last night and…ah…didn't get home until this afternoon sometime."

"Mr. Xelloss?"  Amelia said, her voice rather small and tense.  "Did you hurt your lip aaaaat her place too?"

Zelgadiss gave up.  He picked up his guitar and picked out a couple of notes, evading Amelia's eyes and escaping notice.

Filia and Sylphiel both looked scandalized.  It couldn't be true!

Xelloss shot a glance over to Lina.  She and she alone knew where he had been most of the night.  Lina was more interested in learning the lyrics to the new song and ignored the entire conversation from the point where Filia had begun to talk.  "As a matter of fact, Amelia, I did.  I suppose I was a bit too forward, at first…" He silently thanked Luna then added, "…After that, well…that's a secret!"

Val hacked out a laugh and stumbled over to his synthesizer, "Way ta go, dude…  Say, Lina?  I'm gonna play that first part over a few time to get the cords."

Zelgadiss sighed and shook his head.  He was sure the cut over Xelloss' lip was the result of a sucker punch from someone stronger and more insulted or provoked than Eris was.  He had wondered how Xelloss, with a black belt in Karate managed to get hit, but figured he'd run into a door or something.  He also knew that Xelloss would want to talk about it eventually, so he shrugged his shoulders, strummed another cord from the song, and avoided Filia, Sylphiel, and Amelia's questing eyes.  He would not get sucked into any more lame arguments.  He was too mature for that!

~*~

When you ever visit Seyruun University, the Cavern Club is one attraction you want to miss.  Steep concrete steps lead down from the street— the ones alongside the decent little coffee shop called Kirby's-- to the dungeon-like chambers below.  

Yes, Zelgadiss found to his dismay that the dance club proved to have all the atmosphere of a high school cafeteria, as he had anticipated.  However, as he relaxed and listened, he found to his pleasant surprise that the recorded music selections were tastefully chosen and that the available refreshments were inexpensive.  Zelgadiss bought himself a bottle of an excellent locally-brewed birch-bark beer (with 'roots' and a flavor akin to root beer), found a comfortable table and chair combo, and retired for the evening—he hoped.  Val, Filia, and Lina disappeared onto the dance floor while Xelloss combed the place for Eris.

There she was, hailing Xelloss from the far side of the room.  Zelgadiss watched as Xelloss nimbly weaved through the bobbing crowd to her side.  He was all smiles.  That was good.  Zel was thankful Xelloss was happy if only for a little while.  Eris, he thought, would be a lot prettier without all the harsh black mascara and lush lipstick, but who was he to talk about looks?  Nice figure, for all that…and she could dance.  Well, not as Xelloss could.  No one could light a candle to Xelloss when it came to dancing.  He loved it, and it showed.

The song changed, bringing Val and Filia to wedge him in at the shrinking table.  "Cool place, huh?"  Val asked him.

"Good music anyway," Zel acquiesced.

"Xelloss find his date?"

"Yes," Zel nodded to the side.  "They're over that way."

"Lookin' fine fer a coupla geeky chem-is-try nerds," Val chuckled.  "Nice legs."

Zelgadiss wondered whose legs Val was talking about.  Eris' were long and exposed by her short dress, but Xelloss' were being put to better use with his dancing.

"She wears too much makeup, probably false eyelashes.  I could help her with that," Filia said in a bored tone although she watched them both intently.  

When Xelloss leaned in and planted a light kiss on Eris' cheek, Filia straightened in her chair.  "I guess he _does_ have a girlfriend.  I wouldn't have _believed it if I hadn't seen her for myself."  She grabbed Zel's arm and squeezed it briefly to get his notice.  With an honest look of concern she asked, "Is she…okay…for him?  You know, _safe_?"_

Zelgadiss nodded, "She's a grad student working for our father.  I'm sure she wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that situation."

"How old is she?"  Filia asked.

"Only a few years more than him.  She was a gifted student, like him I suppose.  She's teaching our chem class and is tolerable at it."

"He's dating his teacher?"  Filia groaned.  "He'd better watch it and not get her too mad at him then."

Val grinned, "Oh, I think he's got things under control…"

Indeed, Xelloss cut a fine figure out on the dance floor.  Eris appeared genuinely taken with him, even proud to show him off to a friend passing by on her way to the juice bar.  Although she was nearly his height, he was far handsomer and graceful.  The song ended.  The couples broke apart and fled to the tables and chairs scattered about the room.

"Wow!  Some place, huh?"  Lina sighed and she slipped into a vacant chair Val scooted over for her with his foot.  "You been here all this time?"

Zel nodded.  To avoid having to say anything, he stood and grabbed two free chairs, and then dragged them over to their crowded spot.  Just in time, because Xelloss and Eris sashayed to their table at that moment.

"Hi."

Xelloss did the introductions, and then offered to buy a round of drinks.  What Zel had been drinking sounded good to everyone, so he and Zel left together to make the purchases and carry them back.

  "You looked like you were having a good time," Zel remarked with a faint smile.

"I was…and I _am_, although I wish you were too," Xelloss said kindly.

"I'm fine, don't worry.  The music is good, not that I didn't trust your judgment, but I'm pleasantly surprised."

"Good.  I'll take six birch-beers, please," Xelloss ordered at the make-shift bar.

After handing over the required sum, Xelloss turned again to Zel, "Lina and I having been working up a little dance to go with a song…for the band.  If she's in the mood after this break, I'd like to show you a little demo."

Zel nodded, "So I should ask Eris to dance with me, huh?" he smiled.  "Sure, I guess I could do that, but do you think she'll want to?"

Xelloss nodded as he gathered up an armload of bottles, leaving a few for Zel to juggle back to the table.  "She likes you, you know.  She really admires your father as well.  If I didn't know better, I'd say she was…well…nothing.  Here we go everybody.  One for you…and you…and you…" He giggled as he passed the bottles over to each of his friends.

"Hey," Zel jostled Lina.  "That guy over there, tall, dark one…  Is that the guy you saw Nahga with when you guys visited her in summer?"

"Him?  Nah, that guy had lighter hair with…bleached tips and glasses," she said with barely a glance up.

"Look harder, carefully.  Past the coloring.  Could it be him?"  Zel pressed her.  As she stared at the guy, Zel said, "I spotted him in the hall on my way to calculus.  What grabbed my attention was the name…another guy called him 'Hayate' and he seemed upset over that and corrected him, saying he was 'Adam'.  Yeah, I thought it was unusual at the time."

"Now that you mention it," Lina squinted more, and then met his dark-blue gaze.  "It could be.  Hey!  It was a long time ago and I wasn't payin' much attention at the time."

"There!  There's the other guy I saw him with before, the one with the white hair," Zel lowered his voice.  "Listen, it's not too farfetched an idea that that guy could be looking for a connection in Seyruun, one that links right up with the Mayor's office no less."

"Zel, Zel, Zel…" Lina waved her hand dismissing him.  "I was there.  You weren't.  **He** wasn't huntin' for Nahga; **she hunted him…like a lioness after a young bull.  ****She brought **him** down, not the other way around."**

"Well…maybe he was waiting for a chance to meet up with her.  Shadowing you until he found the right situation.  Maybe he wanted to get caught and made the chase look convincing so you wouldn't suspect him."  Zel sat back wearing his smug expression.

Lina stared at the two guys in question, then chugged back her drink.

"You guys checking out the cute guys?"  Filia laughed.

"Yeah, that's me, Filia, always on the lookout for hunks, but Zel here, well he's on another track.  I don't know, Zel, could we be getting paranoid now after all we've been through?  Not trusting…" She hesitated when she noticed Zel looking over at Eris.  Oh, right…  Instead, she changed gears and shouted, "Eh, I wanna dance and get movin' again!" 

Xelloss kicked Zel under the table and rolled his eyes.  Oh, right…  This time Zel got it and leaned in toward Eris.  "I was wondering if you would dance with me, that is, if you can tear yourself away from Xelloss…"

 "Huh?"  Eris said over the music revving up again.  "Oh, yeah, sure," she agreed after figuring out what Zelgadiss was trying to ask.

Xelloss tapped Lina on the shoulder.  "Shall we give them a little taste of our new act, Lina?"

"Sure, what the hell."  She pushed past Xelloss to mark her spot on the dance floor.  They would need space.

Zelgadiss posted up in a place where he could watch, but Eris would have her back to them.

"Nice earring," Eris told him.  "That one with the gem matching your eye color.  I'd kill for them-- your eyes, that is.  I mean…you don't look a thing like your father, except some of your mannerisms.  Did you know that?  Ha!  Your father is a real catch, you know.  So cultured and intelligent…refined," Eris closed her eyes and let out a little sigh.

Zelgadiss asked warily, "You're not dating my father too, are you?"

That brought her out of dreamland.  "Who…me?  N-no…He thinks of me as…a younger colleague…daughter, almost.  But if I had the…" As the music got louder, she had to shout to be heard, and so their conversation ended. 

_What was Lina up to?  Oh my…  When had Xelloss and Lina found that much time to practice dancing…if that was dancing?_  Zelgadiss wondered about what he was observing.  _How had Xelloss gotten past Lina's 'hands off' policy?  _They looked very good and were drawing a crowd of admires.  Within a few minutes, a circle expanded around the hot couple and the band took it up a notch.  Hot.  They were scorching!  Zelgadiss was certainly glad that Gourry wasn't a witness to this.  Even with Xelloss' _actual_ girlfriend dancing just a few feet away, it appeared to him, as it would to any of the strangers watching their intimate dance routine, that Lina was more that _just_ friends.  He tried to conjure up a mental picture of Lina and Xelloss, the couple, but it wouldn't come.  Zel shook his head.  No, that wasn't possible.  Appearances can be very deceiving. 

When the number was over, the couple separated, only to be cheered by the crowd encouraging them to dance more.  Zelgadiss lead Eris over as Xelloss and Lina both shook their heads, "No…too much work," Lina said.

Xelloss grinned as Zel drew near.  "Well, what did you think?  Its a few bits and pieces we've put together to go with a song we'll sing as a duet.  You know…as you guys play the instrumental only parts, we break into dance.  Fun, eh?"

"Ah…yes…" What more could Zel say?  "Lina give you the fat lip over it?"

"Ha, ha…" Xelloss gave a dry chuckle. "Eris, did you have a nice time with my little brother?  Not too nice a time, I hope.  Oh my!  Looks like this is a slow one.  Care to join me?"

Eris smiled as she took his hand, allowing Xelloss to lead her out onto the dance floor.

See?  Just friends!  What did I tell you?  Zel sighed a sigh of relief.

"You just gonna stand there or do you wanna dance?"  Lina asked with all the cordiality of a slap to the face. 

Zel turned, took a deep breath, and said in an off hand tone, "Oh I'll keep you company, if that's what you'd like."

"I'd like to _dance_.  So come on."  Lina quick-stepped along to center of the room.  Zelgadiss lengthened his stride to keep up.

He stood in front of her wondering where to put his hands.  Xelloss hadn't seemed to have any trouble or doubts, but he was Zel not Xel.  His thoughts were interrupted by Lina as she lightly put one hand on his shoulder and grasped the other.  Automatically, he settled his free arm around her, hand resting gently at her hip and slowly moved to the music.  It wasn't hard at all, as long as he didn't think about whom it was that he was dancing with.

"Zel," Lina hissed up at him.  Zel wasn't all that tall, but Lina was a shrimp up close.  "Don't turn, wait until we turn naturally then look over by the bar.  Isn't that Seishirou?  Yeah…talkin' with a crowd of odd characters.  Rough lot, too."

"Oh, really?"  Zel said, feigning amazement.  He could feel Lina straighten, and when he looked back down, her eyes were still locked on their target, slitted suspiciously.

"He's with…lemme count…some woman and one, two, three, four, maybe five other men," Lina said, her voice husky.

"**_Maybe_** five?"

"One is of ambiguous sexual identity," she clarified with a sharp squeeze to his shoulder.  "Now turn and you take a peek."

He did.  "The lady is one nasty looking bitch and I for one would not want to be in a dark alley with a couple of those men either, but other than that they look like any other professors on the staff."  The corners of Zel's lips turned up into a smirk.

Lina's eye's darkened.  Dreadfully.  No one belittled her suspicions and got away free and clear.  When Zel next met her gaze, Lina had a calculating gleam in her eye.  Oh shit!

"Well, then…" she in a mild tone.  "You won't mind going over there and saying 'hello' then."

She peeled herself off Zel's chest like a damp t-shirt, and then shoved him in the right direction.  "And make sure you find out what they're up to while yer at it!"

Oh, joy…

In as embarrassing a manner as possible, Zelgadiss interrupted Seishirou and his friends at the bar.  After a quick exchange of words, Zel left them in search for his table—back to safety.  Seishirou followed him with his eyes, then located the other Slayers scattered about the room, then chuckled softly and returned to his previous conversation.

Lina was waiting, holding his chair ransom.  "Well?"

Realizing that he'd have to report first, sit later, Zel began, "He is here with members of his band.  Band, Lina.  As in music.  Not a band of thugs, thieves, or bandits.  A band called Dragons of the Earth.  They are scoping out the local talent.  He believes that the club's band might be possible competition for the battle of the bands.  Satisfied?"  Before she could answer, Zel added, "Oh, and he's a he…I think…close enough anyway."

Okay.  So while at the dance club, they spot Seishirou talking with some shady-looking characters who might be in his band and who might be, as he says 'scoping out the club band'.  Okay.  That might be so.  Sounds plausible, smart actually.  But…could it really be something more dark and disturbing?  Lina took a deep breath and shrugged.  "Eh, maybe it's okay then.  I said **maybe.  We should keep a close watch on them while we're here just the same."**

"Right," Zel sighed, then sat back in gloomy silence. 

"That goes for Xelloss and that…Eris too," Lina added, leaning back in her seat to wait for Zel's response.

Zelgadiss swiveled his head toward the outrageous redhead.  "What problem do you have with them?  Come off it, Lina.  Can't you see the guy's happy for a change?  So what if he stays out all night with her!  He's an adult and can do those things now."

"Oh yeah?"  Her voice dripped with scorn, her eyes accusing.  "Well Mr. Know-It-All, he wasn't at _her_ place, he was at _mine_!  And he wasn't happy, he'd been sucker-punched by her ex!  I think she's up to something treacherous.  Something to rob him of his inheritance or break his heart."  

She stopped to let the information sink in a moment, then added in a hard voice, "You haven't been a very good friend and a lousy brother to him, you know that Zel?"

"Oh really?"  Zel said shortly, nettled at her tone.  "I don't mother him or baby him.  I've got him to classes and through them and covered for him, but that's as far as I go.  And what was that you said?  He was at your house…all night?"

"Luna brought him home, actually," she said smugly.  "You'll have to get the rest out of him."

Zel sniffed in disgust and turned to watch the dancers.  Lina observed Eris with her hypercritical eye.

"What do you suppose he sees in her?" she mused.

Now it was his turn to get in a dig or two.  "You mean beyond the great figure, brilliant analytical mind, and easy attitude?  Romance, perhaps?"

Lina made a scornful noise, "Romance…"

~*~

As it happened, Zel and Xelloss had a short heart-to-heart that evening.

"All right, Xelloss…  So tell me what's up in your life.  Late nights, busted lip, dirty-dancing with Lina…" Zel hinted.

A broad grin split Xelloss' face.  "That's a secret."  He sputtered then started giggling.

"Funny."

"Sorry…it was just too tempting.  Okay I'll tell all.  Do you want the 'PG' or 'X' rated version?"

Zel's eyes darkened.

"Ah…that was just a joke too.  Well, I've seen Eris a few times now and…she's very friendly and fun to talk to, when we're talking, that is!"

Zel sighed.  This was why he hated to get into his friend's business.  He really didn't want to know.  "Don't give me a play-by-play, Xelloss.  Just the…"

"Facts.  Just the facts, sir!"  Xelloss giggled again.  "The other night we were enjoying a…brief interlude…" his eyes glittered with mischief, "…when who should show up on the scene and rudely interrupt us?  Vurumagen!  Eris' previous boyfriend who hasn't gotten the less than subtle hint that it's all over.  I know you are wondering why Eris didn't have her door locked, right?  Well, I don't have an answer to that, I don't know either, but she hadn't and it wasn't so he burst into her room without so much as a rap at the door.  I thought to myself, 'how odd and rude of her roommate to just barge in…' That's as far as I got, when a fist came flying out of nowhere and slammed into my mouth.  I had nearly time enough to avoid contact, if my reflexes hadn't been slowed by an armload of Eris…but," Xelloss paused in his story-telling to check if Zelgadiss was still paying attention.  Satisfied that Zel was listening, he continued.  "That was the only hit he got past me.  And, no, I didn't break every bone in his body after that.  I have more control than that!  However…I really need to get back to the dojo and improve my reflexes and aim.  I'm getting sluggish and sloppy."

"Lina hates slugs."  That was all Zel said.

"Is that so?"  Xelloss pursed his lips.  "I said sluggish, not slug-like.  And Lina likes me fine.  Did you know that she doesn't have an ounce of fat on her?  Now, take Eris for example.  She's much softer.  More like Filia, but without the recurring nasty attitude.  Lina, on the other hand…"

"So, when did you and Luna hook up?"  Zel interrupted as quickly as possible.

"Luna?  How did you…?  Ah, well that was later.  We, that's Eris and me, we had to carry Vurumagen to the student health services emergency room.  Now that was fun!  I truly hadn't meant to drop his head twice…only once.  The second time was an accident.  See, my hands were getting a bit slippery with his blood…"

Zel darted his eyes over to Xelloss not bothering to mask the worry in them.

"Just kidding again, little brother!  Slippery with sweat, most likely.  Anyway, the nurse accepted our story that he'd been partying and had had a bad fall with no problem.  I imagine they hear that all the time around there.  Well, then…  I walked Eris back to her room, noted the time, made the usual excuses…'I turn into a pumpkin or monster or  whateveryouwant at midnight' and hopped off to the bus stop.  And there I sat.  Waiting for the bus that never came because the schedule changed for that stop and I foolishly hadn't read their minds to know that.  About a half-an-hour into my bus wait, my head, mouth, and shoulders started to ache, throb, and sting.  That was the time Luna spied me, hobbled on over, and offered me a ride home."

Xelloss paused to clear his throat, then want on, "Now, I didn't realize, yet, that I had a good deal of my own blood slathered over my chin.  She did, of course, and, with a memory like  elephant's…You don't think that's a family thing, do you?  I mean, Lina never forgets stuff either.  Anyway…Luna, it's Luna we're talking about here now, Luna remembers my weaknesses like no other and wanting to save you the nightmare of finding my unconscious body flat out in our house someplace after fainting at the sight of my own shed blood, she invited me to stay at her place.  Naturally."

"Naturally."  Zel repeated.

"Yes, _naturally_.  So Luna drove me to her house, doctored me up, and gave me a blanket…Now that I think about it, it was none too clean-smelling a blanket.  Hmmm…I'll have to offer to take a few of their 'guest items' to the cleaners, by way of a thank you gesture.  You agree?"

Zel shrugged 'whatever'.

Not to be put off by his friend's lack of conversational skills, Xelloss finished his tale.  "And there I slept, on their couch in the front room until quite late.  Lina and I woke to find out that we were not alone in the house as we had suspected…that is, that we were the only other two there even though we didn't think the other one was there.  So we had a bit to eat and then I suggested the dancing."

"Dancing."

"Un, huh.  Just a little idea of mine to liven up one of our concerts.  During the instrumental parts of this song Lina and I will be singing as a duet, I choreographed a few routines to squeeze in."

"Funny you should say 'squeeze'," Zel remarked dryly.

"Ha!  That's funny, too!  The dancing I had in mind…"

"Back to your dark and disturbed mind…" Zel muttered.

Ignoring Zel, Xelloss continued, "Lina needed examples of.  So, I suggested that we rent the movie…"

"Dirty dancing."

"Yes!  You've seen that?  How unlike your usual tame taste!  I tossed in an offering…"

"Of food."

"Of food, yes.  And we…"

"Ate, rented, walked, danced.  I get it."  Zel stopped his car and set the brake.

"Well, yes, the capsulated version…  It was fun."

"Good, now you can have more fun.  Come in and help me get a load of laundry going while we go over the notes from what you missed in class.  Then there's the lab to prepare for…" Zel said as he sprinted on ahead to the door.

"Of course, little brother, whatever you want.  This is _our_ special time together!"

Zel could just HEAR the grin in Xelloss' voice, but he wouldn't have it any other way.  Xelloss was happy and unconcerned about the potential threats around him, while Zel and Lina felt the pressure of future disasters about to overtake and overwhelm them all, Xelloss particularly.  Well, what Xelloss didn't see, Xelloss wouldn't know and that was good for the time being.  Let him live in ignorance if that meant giving him a period of relative peace.  Xelloss had known so precious little of that, that was for sure!  

"And if you very good," Zel smiled, "I'll let you try some of the new ice cream I bought."

"The chai?"

"Did you already eat that?  Well, that wasn't the one.  I got a different one.  A secret one."

Xelloss smiled.  He loved secrets.

~*~

Next chapter…à Battle of the bands--it came, it conquered, its over

~*~

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Twenty-five.  ~*~ 


	26. Chapter 26

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The Slayers: **Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel**

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Twenty-six

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~*~

****

The battle of the bands was going to be an all-day affair, housed in a now-vacant old movie theatre that the owners were trying to renovate into a concert hall. In fact, the event was actually planned to be a fund-raiser for the old theatre, both to keep it from closing and to fund a 'new voices' program which reserved a day each month for a local, preferably young, band to perform without any overhead. Thus, this event was both appropriate and profitable—for they had such fan-favorites as the Suzaku Seven and the Goddess Fantastic Club, not to mention that new band, the Slayers… The theatre was going all out for the performances, with professional lighting and even hiring a Seyruun resident who had made it big for the emcee. Yes, this battle was bound to be epic…

The drum kit, amplifiers, piano, and various keyboards, synthesizers, and microphones were set up on the large stage. This worked to solve two problems: it equalized the bands based on the quality of their equipment, and it simplified and minimized the setup time between acts. It was the only way so many bands could run through their numbers in so short a time. Not that this was too big of a concern; most of the bands were really more 'sing and dance-to-canned-music' kind of acts than real bands. The Seals and Harbingers were real musicians, as was the Goddess Fantastic Club, the 'Holy Student Council', and some unheard-of group called 'Pirate King'. That left, well, everybody else singing to pre-recorded music, which only required a good sound-system. 

Xelloss probably would have been annoyed at the arrangement—he was very attached to his equipment. After all, he had not been pleased when, at the recording studio months ago, he had been made to use a drumset other than his own. But this was now moot, for a very basic and simple reason: Xelloss was not with them. He had told Zelgadiss that he'd 'arrive on time' but had a 'few things to do' before the contest. What things? Zel had asked. Well, of course, that was a secret. 

It was very crowded backstage, with all of these bands. They were divided up into two different categories: musicians and singers. This meant that the Slayers would not be competing against the Suzaku Seven, the Seiryu Seven, DBZ, the Sailor Scouts, Magic Knight Rayearth, the Leafe Knights, Wing, or any of the others on that list, which was a relief. The fan-power behind some of those boy-bands or girl-bands was overwhelming, and not something that the Slayers wanted to try to mess with. 

However, they had some vested interest in watching this part of the competition, since they knew the Suzaku so well, and in fact found that they recognized at least half of the people there. 'Rayearth' included that nice girl Hikaru, as well as her former student-council friend, Fuu, and the fencer with the blue hair, Umi, plus four guys that either went to Seyruun High or the University. The Sailor Scouts were those cheerful girls from the sailing club that they'd met at that dance so many months ago, and they boasted matching outfits with very short skirts that Gourry and Val admired greatly, openly, and enthusiastically. Duo and Heero, Amelia's acquaintances, were part of Wing with some others, and as for the Leafe Knights-- a band from Atlas City with more followers than even the Suzaku and their traditional rivals, the Seiryu-- there was one member…

Zel had to do a double take to realize who this person was, which was unusual for his keenly perceptive brain. But this was a person he'd seen in an ordinary setting, and often—now completely transformed. When he pointed him out to Lina, a great mystery was finally revealed… 

"It makes some sense now," Zel muttered to Lina.

"Eh? How so, Zel?" she grumbled back. Lina was not pleased that Zel had let Xelloss out of his sight. She wanted her entire band present and accounted for NOW, not off on some secret mission or another. What could be more important than this right now? And since Xelloss wasn't around to yell at, Lina took it out on her best guy-type friend. "Why not enlighten us all with your insight…"

Wisely ignoring her 'attitude' for the most part, Zel answered, "Why Adam Hayate was in disguise when Nahga ran into him."

"'Over him' more like it…" Lina muttered.

"Why? What do you mean, Mr. Zelgadiss?" asked Amelia with her undying interest in anything Zelgadiss might wish to share with her.

"He's quite famous in the Atlas City area, and apparently other places as well. Recognize him now? 'Adam Hayate' is Hayate, of the Leafe Knights. He dyed his hair and wore the glasses last summer as a disguise. You can see for yourself how popular he is with the girl fans." Zel explained as Amelia nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, so you were wrong, then." Lina made this pronouncement as if to tag an 'as usual' to the end.

Amelia looked to Zel for his confirmation.

"Yes, Lina. I admit, I was worried about him for nothing, but you have to admit it was odd how he wound up meeting Nahga and being at the same university as us all while covering up his true…"

"Yeah, yeah," Lina waved him off. "While in the meantime you let Xelloss out on his own right before this…" She gestured widely at the auditorium. "We can't do without a drummer now, can we?"

"I am not his guardian." Zel said this with assurance that he was not to be blamed, whatever the outcome. "If you can't trust him, then you collar him and keep him on a leash. I certainly won't." And with that said, Zel strayed off to say hello to the Rayearth girls. One of them had been very nice to talk to back at that dance club. She had a dog…Hikaru. Wait--was that the girl's name, or her dog's? That was the night he had delivered a baby; he'd met her only hours before he ended up delivering Filia's little brother. That all seemed like ages ago…

Amelia sighed as she watched Zelgadiss slip away. "Oh Miss Lina, I'm sure Xelloss will come on time."

"On time!" Lina snapped, unleashing her fury on her best girl-type friend. "He's already not on time. He's late. Whether he makes it in time to do a sound check and check the drums is one thing…making it to the actual performance is another. He'd better not stand us up or so help me he'll wish the syndicate was around to save his sorry--"

"He'll make it!" Amelia interrupted. "I just know he'll be here any minute!" She didn't want to hear anything about any syndicate, not ever again. "Look! There's Hokuto! Let's go say hi, okay?" 

"Who's that cute guy standing near her?" Sylphiel asked Amelia, catching snatches of their conversation.

Amelia looked to see whom it was that she might mean, although she didn't think it was appropriate for an engaged girl, especially one representing the White Shrine, to be looking over the cute guys. Next to Hokuto were a few members of her brother's band as well as a healthy smattering of Seishirou's. In fact, the two bands appeared to be co-mingling in a friendly, not combative, manner. "There's lots of cute guys, Miss Sylphiel. I think Hokuto's brother is a peach, but the one glowering to her right is the lead singer in Subaru's band, Kamui. Hokuto just does their costumes, I think. That taller man to her left is Seishirou. He's…"

"Kamui…." Sylphiel sighed. "Kaaaaa-moooo-weeeeeee…"

"Oh brother," Lina grunted and walked away to find Gourry or Val or someone new to intimidate.

She ran into, or rather, it was Ranma who ran into Lina, breathless and wide-eyed. "Have you seen her? Have…you…_seen_…her?"

"Who?" Lina practically snarled, batting his hands off her shoulders.

"My sister, who else? We're singin' a duet and we're up in a few minutes!"

Lina didn't even know he had a sister. "Sister? What's she look like?"

"Ah…like me…some…but smaller, like you and with red hair like yours… and a lot cuter." 

Lina narrowed her eyes. "No…"

"Errr…" He growled. "Ryoga never made it _either_! I figured one or the other would show and it would be okay! Hey! Listen for us. We're called 'Anything Goes!'" He must have caught sight of one of them, because without another word he dashed off in another direction.

"Yeah, sure…" Lina said to herself. "Just as long as you do…"

Watching the acts compete was both fun and frightening at times; the Suzaku Seven and the Seiryu Seven were bitter, intense rivals, and the Sailor Scouts and DBZ had no love lost between them, either. After more song and dance routines than your average 

teeny-bopper TV music special, the Slayers were glad to hear that the new, real bands were next—even if that meant that their number would be up sooner! 

At least they wouldn't be up against the Seals and the Harbingers or the Fantastic Club until a later round! The Slayers would be the last in the line-up for 'new competitors/bands' ('bands' as opposed to 'acts'). Before them were a strange array of new 'talent.' 

They watched in a combination of horror and amazement as the band called 'The Holy Student Council'—made up of old acquaintances from the club Kazumi, Haruto, and Asahina, as well as some odder individuals—trotted up onto the stage. The blonde-haired Haruto looked nervous and uncomfortable up there, though blue-haired Kazumi and redhead Asahina seemed pretty relaxed and had much better stage presence. Their companions were the musicians: a brunette in an abbreviated school-girl outfit played a very fuchsia guitar, a tall and attractive man in a red cape (who looked like a lounge-lizard version of the Sailor Scouts' tuxedo-clad male member) had a firetruck-finish electric bass, and a very under-aged looking child, presumably a boy, clutched a tambourine as if his life depended on it. From the predatory looks Asahina was giving him, it probably did! With what looked like their school principal on the keyboards, the band was rounded out into a seven-member troupe. Actually, when they started, they ended up being a pretty passable sixties-garage band kind of group, and did covers of a well-known but shapeless 'oldies' tune. They weren't exceptional, but they weren't painful, either. The Slayers all clapped mightily for them when they finished. 

Next was 'Pirate King'—or were they 'Sea Warrior'?—'All Blue'?—'Navigator'?—'World's Greatest Swordsman'? They couldn't seem to agree on the name of their band. Or on the song. The Slayers watched them bicker and nearly come to blows backstage, before it was finally decided that they were 'One Piece', and they were playing, 'Hi-Ho, Ready Go!' which seemed to please everybody, even if only because it didn't favor anybody in particular. Lina turned to her band as the group stampeded onto the stage.

"I guess we could be worse," she said to them. "But if Xelloss doesn't get here soon…"

'One Piece' was part rock, part big-band swing, but their song was sort of a Caribbean show tune. Each person had a both an instrumental and singing solo, with a chorus of all of their (rather clashing) voices belting out, "Hi-Ho, ready go!" They had a mini brass section, with a big, beefy guy on wailing sax and an odd duck on trombone, a handsome, lanky blonde piano player, and a spunky girl on guitar. But the band leader was, strangely enough, the drummer; a wild, frenetic kid who looked like a beach bum in his sandals and straw hat, and a madman when you saw his wide eyes. He sang loudest, and with the most energy, and played drums as if they were enemies he had to beat the living crud out of. Unfortunately, he was both the most enthusiastic, and the least good. Although they had a lot of energy, they just weren't as cohesive as one could wish, and the arrangement needed some work. The Slayers cheered anyway, and wondered who these kids were. 

They missed the next group 'The Three-Hundred Year Old Grudge,' because they had to be back stage, getting ready for their own number, which was next. And Xelloss was still not present…

As Zelgadiss passed by the band, one of the fan-girls or members, he didn't stay to listen, tapped him on the shoulder. "Say, hello! Remember me…from the beach?"

"Ah…yes, I do now. Jubei, right?" Zel was relieved to have remembered the girl's name. They had only spoken for a few minutes on the beach.

"Yeah! Jubei-chan! You, I'd never forget…Zel…"

"Zel. Yes."

"And your cute friend with the purple hair?"

"Should be here any moment," Zel finished for her. "Good luck with your band."

"Oh…not my band. I'm just here for the friend on ukulele. But I'll stay to hear your band too!"

"Ah thanks…I have to change now. See you then." And with a small smile, Zelgadiss slipped backstage.

~*~

Filia was stationed outside the changing rooms near one entrance on Xelloss lookout duty while the rest of the band prepared to play. Zelgadiss was helping Gourry tune up while Val was joyfully adjusting the drumset to Xelloss' requirements. This meant lowering a few pieces to Xelloss' height following the previous guy who had been much taller, removing a few unnecessary drums- no bongos for the Slayers--, lowering the throne, replacing the bass drum pedal with his higher quality one, and adding his favorite crash cymbal. Actually, Val didn't mind doing the work. It kept his mind occupied. Otherwise he'd be glowering or grumbling to hide his nerves. This way he looked cool and professional. Amelia and Sylphiel were adjusting the microphones and makeup interchangeably. Lina was pacing the floor and checking her watch.

"All right. That's in tune for now," Zel told Gourry. "We'll do the sound test and make any changes after that. It's too noisy for this electronic tuner and I'm reluctant to remove my earplugs until the last minute."

"S'okay," Gourry nodded. "I think I'd better see about Lina anyway. She's gonna bust a blood vessel if Xelloss don't get here soon." 

Zel nodded. He'd done all he could speaking to her from the logic angle. Maybe some good old down-home gentleness would appease her. Of course, having that irresponsible idiot Xelloss show up right now would be a big help...

"Hey…"

Lina halted mid step and looked up into Gourry's kind face. "Hey," she answered in kind.

"Its gonna be fine, ya know. Bet he's just havin' a hard time parkin' Zel's car. Zel makes him park it a block away on a street under a streetlight so it won't get scratched or nothin'. Did I tell ya my Dad's givin' me the ole pickup this year?"

"Really?" Lina's face softened. Gourry knew how to divert her attention every once in a while. "That's good for you."

"Yeah. Now I can take ya places…" Gourry looked over her head, scanning the main entrance for the color purple. "And get out ta work and all."

Lina swallowed harder, "Oh? Yeah? Ah…sure…that's cool…"

He reached down and carefully rearranged a lock of her hair, which had taken off in its own direction. "You sure are bright…in those stripes. Makes ya easy ta spot. Course…yer so pretty and all…who could miss you?"

She grinned, "You betcha! No one can ignore me, the beautiful and talented singer extraordinaire! These clothes are just the icing on the cake." She sported a faint blush, but it could have been from the _external_ heat as well…

From the other end of the hall, Nuriko exited the dressing room. Their first performance was over and the other Suzaku boys had cleaned up and moved over to the listening area. He was milling around waiting for Xelloss to appear. "Filia," he smiled when he spotted her outside the door. "I take it Xelloss is still a no-show?"

"That's right. I could tear the creep apart for this, but the later it gets the more concerned I get. You know, he is so prone to get into trouble. Well, maybe you don't know, but he is."

"I know he's had more visits to the hospital than dates," Nuriko joked.

"Huh…not lately," she snorted. "Oh, yeah, he's got a girlfriend at last. Eris, something. Some chem-nerd-student of Zel's dad. Not bad looking, but she wears too much eye makeup. So do you, for that matter," Filia added.

"Eris? Yes…I've seen her. Sports the goth-hooker look. Not really his type, my guess, but sharp as nails." Nuriko's hand brushed his floppy bangs back away from his eyes. "What's wrong with my makeup?"

"Here, let me…" Filia snapped out a couple compacts and a tissue. She began with wiping off the fluorescent, blue-violet eye shadow. "You have outstanding eyes. You don't need so much color. Let's see…try his plumy-brown and dusty gray."

He allowed her to alter his look then checked the results in her mirror. "Oh…my…lovely…and that brush…where do you buy your cosmetics, dear?"

Filia sniffed and flipped back a long blond tress. "We make our own out of the purist of ingredients…organically grown, of course, at the settlement." She paused to take another look at her paint job, narrowing her eyes some. "This has got to be, like, one of my weirdest conversations, but you know, you'd be really hot without the makeup Nuriko."

He chuckled, "Well, it keeps the girls away. Otherwise, I'd have fan-girls after me like Tamahome. Besides… oh! Speaking of hot guys…"

Filia whirled to catch a glance of Xelloss speeding through the crowded side entrance. "Can you drag him over here for me? I've got his costume ready to change into. Gods, he looks a mess. Gotta find my brush…"

"Oh sure, sweetie, I do _drag_ good," Nuriko laughed aloud and pushed through the crowd to nab his friend.

Filia snorted something under her breath as she dug through her bag, searching for a comb and brush.

"Gods I'm sorry…" Xelloss huffed and puffed. "Lina's not around is she?"

Filia pushed him into the dressing room while Nuriko held open the door. This conversation would be too good to miss, he decided. "She's around, but not in here. I'm here and if you think I'm going to be nice, then you'd better think again. Actually, don't think or talk, just strip."

Xelloss unbuttoned his shirt, then paused to glance at first Filia, then Nuriko. "Don't I get any privacy?"

"NO," they both said together. 

"You lost that right by being late and requiring my help. Him? He's just here to ogle, I guess," Filia snapped. "Come on hurry up. I've seen it all before, remember? Your body holds no secrets from me-- or interest-- by the way. I can't speak for _him_, though."

Nuriko frowned slightly. "I'm not _ogling_. Oh, Xelloss, I know about the scars…and the cause of them."

Xelloss ripped off the shirt, unable to meet their eyes, and then slipped into the shirt Filia handed him. "Oh, really…"

"A few of us knew…at the dojo. Not many!" Nuriko said to dispel the hard look from his friend. "Sano noticed the marks once when you and I were in combat and your gi gaped open some. He mentioned it to Val and got the scoop. But we're the only ones. You're really…very…"

"Pants! Now!" Filia barked, interrupting his train of thought. She thought Xelloss had a nice looking body too, but now was not the time to point that out. No ego stroking.

Nuriko folded his arms and smiled as Xelloss fastened his pants. "Filia said _my_ makeup was bad. Since when did you take up lipstick, Xelloss?"

"Huh?" Xelloss' fingers rubbed his lower lip. "Oh, my…"

"You're late because you were off making out with your girlfriend?! I hope Lina kills you…after the contest, of course. Men! You and your one-track, puny brains! You're despicable and all alike!" She caught Nuriko's startled expression and added, "Well, most of you… Now, I'll try and wipe it off, but this red stuff really stains…nice job…there will be no fooling Lina. Ooh and is this a blush too? How rare."

Filia could irritate him to no end. "I don't blush," he argued senselessly. She really brought out the worst in him. "I ran from around the block and through a acre of crowded parking lot and…I had run into a little trouble earlier. And I wasn't…just making out with Eris, even though it's not your business. Here, let me look in that mirror. Ah…no! My hair!" He now began to whine, which grated on her nerves and annoyed Filia even more.

She knocked him on the head with the mirror. "Shut up! You are such a brat! Even my little brother isn't as demanding as you. I'll take care of your hair. What is this goop in it—and it had better not be toxic?!"

"Jell-O salad, grape, I think, to match. Rezo pitched it at me." Xelloss mumbled. "I am so screwed…Zelgadiss will never talk to me again and Lina…Gods…"

"Oh and now you're going to cry. What a man! I don't know what you've been up to, but you deserve all the punishment they deal out to you. There, no Jell-O. From a distance no one will be the wiser, except you look as pretty as a girl." She swatted him again for good measure.

Xelloss frowned and maturely stuck out his tongue. "Your boyfriend told me that once…no… _twice_ before and since love is blind—at least where the two of you are concerned, I know you're both wrong. So there!"

Nuriko shook his head and chuckled at their childish arguing. He could tell that they were both pretty good friends. She was helping him get ready faster than he could alone, while he vented his worries some before having to face the rest of the band. "Ten minutes."

"Damn." Xelloss opened his eyes and met Filia's, revealing his odd slitted eyes and a slightly frightened look, no attempt to be dissembling at all. 

Filia met them with her soft watery blues ones and shivered. "Done. We can make it. I'm certain Val's got your stuff ready for you and Lina was be more relieved than mad to see you get behind that drumset." 

"Thanks," Xelloss whispered humbly. "I'm sorry I'm such a jerk."

"Break a leg you two!" Nuriko shouted after them. He packed up Xelloss' belongings and slung his bag over his shoulder, following them on their way out. "You're both knock-outs, by the way!" And then added, "You'll do great because you're pros!"

Xelloss ran through the crowd toward the stage where he could see the other members of his band clustered. He tried to remember what song they were to play for in the first round and couldn't. He'd have to ask someone or mess up everything. How unprofessional! How would he face Lina and Zelgadiss? Filled with dread, butterflies, and the early stages of panic, Xelloss skipped the last two steps of the stairs and simply launched himself onto his throne.

"Xelloss!" Lina exclaimed. Her face softened and she said, "Glad you made it, but I knew you would 'cause Zel wasn't concerned at all." Then to Filia who was quickly climbing the steps, she remarked, "A bit heavy on the stage makeup but thanks for seein' to him."

Xelloss gave Filia a wild look. Oh she wouldn't tell… would she? Filia just shrugged and replied, "Nuriko told me one of the judges like the pretty ones so…well…it couldn't hurt."

Val snorted and then handed him his drumsticks and asked, "Try out the positioning, 'kay? I'm not sure everything's right yet; it's a lot different than what yers is like, 'specially the snare/tom-tom hookup. Go ahead, ya got time to test it out." Spoken cool and calm like this happened everyday.

Xelloss, still panting slightly, just nodded and looked over the kit a moment before testing his reach and the head sounds.

Zelgadiss was the last to come over. Xelloss finished a drum roll and looked up, meeting his friend's eyes with trepidation. "This first round isn't particularly important, as it turns out," Zel said. He smiled slightly. "As long as we play in tune and don't blow an amp, we are automatically elevated to the next level. Apparently, most the bands don't even go through this, but since this is our first time in the competition, we just have to make the cut. Next year we can skip it. So, Lina decided we'll do _Get Along_ this round,_ Give a Reason,_ then then _Breeze_."

Xelloss nodded and smiled, "Thanks little brother…I-I…"

"Yeah, I'm a bit nervous too, but once we get started it'll be all right." Zelgadiss gave him a quick look over. He appeared flustered and ill at ease to him. "Whatever's eating you, get past it and focus on our music. Can you do that?"

Xelloss tightened his smile a bit, then said, "Yes. No problem."

"Good. That's what I told everyone and I hate to be wrong, you know."

Xelloss closed his eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath. He would never let them down. "Ready. I'm ready for _Get Along."_

The announcer interrupted as he called for their band to begin when their final sound test was completed.

"Done that!" Lina waved back, signaling her readiness. "All right guys here we go again…" She stepped to the front microphone and shouted in her best energetic, rock star persona, "All right! We're the Slayers and we're gonna do an original called _Get Along!"_

Without a moments rest, Gourry began the downbeat count and the band ripped into their old standby. Piece of cake down to the last note. Perfect. 

The judges whispered for a few minutes, then the spokesperson for them leaned forward. "Thank you. You may move on to the next level in the competition. Check the bulletin board by the judges' table for your assigned time slot…Ah, just a minute… What's that?" The spokesperson listened intently to a technician who was explaining the lineup of equipment, then turned back to the microphone and Lina. "Okay, umm…you can leave your setup as is, we'll be covering soloists next, then your band. Next is…"

Lina turned to the others, "That was it? That was dumb. Okay, Amelia…"

"Yes, Miss Lina?"

"Run over and check the time for that next set. I need a drink of water."

While Amelia raced off to find out how much time they had until the next round of competition they had to face, the rest of the band locked up their guitars and left the stage to listen to the soloist competition. Why not? As it only took her a moment to find their name and time, then she rushed back to find her friends, and headlong into a young man of Zel's height.

"Oof!" He gasped juggling his guitar case and successfully saving it from landing at their feet. 

"Oh!" Amelia cried out. "Oh, I'm soooo sorry! I'm such a klutz sometimes. Are you okay? Can I help you or get you anything?" Then she noticed how cute he was and nearly liquefied at his feet.

"Oh, no problem. I'm fine and so's my guitar--and the harmonica wouldn't break if you ran a train over it. How about you? You hit your head pretty hard on my elbow." He had a kind tone.

Real cute. Amelia simply gaped.

"Ah…maybe not…" he squinted at her checking to see if she was about to pass out. "Umm, you're one of the Slayers, aren't you? I just heard your band. You're very good. I'm sure you'll win some prize today."

"Oh?" She blushed suddenly aware of her rude staring. "You must forgive me, Mr.—"

"No 'Mr.' anything," he chuckled. He swept a fall of dark red hair out of his eyes and bowed slightly. "I'm Raphael, about to make my debut on stage at any minute."

"I'm here!" gasped another voice coming from a blue-haired slender lad running to meet them.

To Amelia's disappointment, Raphael greeted the new-comer with a kiss and an overly familiar pat on the rear—which solicited a disturbed an embarrassed "Raphael!" and a crimson blush. 

"'Bout time, I'm next!" Raphael smiled, unconcernedly. Turning to Amelia he said, "Let me introduce you to Mikael, a _real _angel. This is one of the Slayers' singers, Miss—"

"Miss Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun!" she said brightly.

"The mayor's daughter?" Raphael said with a wink and a rakish smile. "Beauty _and _position, right Mikael?"

The blue-hair youth smiled in a forced way and lowered his eyes. Amelia wondered at his long eyelashes and thought that it wasn't fair for a boy to have them. "Angel?" she asked.

"Just a figure of speech," the delicate Mikael said in a low voice. "I'm no more an angel than he is. It's nice to meet you, Miss Amelia, but Raphael…you have to go now! The last participant's leaving the stage already!"

"Wish me luck! Oh, and Amelia, please keep an eye on Michael for me, okay?" Raphael ran off laughing, then nearly floated up the steps to the stage area. As the technician tested the microphone for both the acoustic guitar and the singer, Raphael removed his guitar from the case and tested the tuning. He must have found it 'good enough', or perhaps he simply didn't care, because he did not adjust the tuners—just slipped onto the stool and strummed a cord. The sound tech nodded for him to test the other mic, so he counted down from five. Okay. With a go-ahead to begin, the young man with the dark red hair smiled languidly at the audience. "Hey, guys! I'm Raphael. Just Raphael. I wrote this song as a warning for all of you who think you want something that, well…might just not be the right thing fer you. Mikael, this is for you!" he cleared his throat, and began strumming and blowing a few bars on the 'blues harp.'. Then the singing began. It was…proficient…but it seemed to really suit the song.

"Becoming an angel means that

You become free of everything

You can fly wherever you want with your white wings.

I can always be by your side, but—

You're close by…but you're really far away!

You become closer to an angel—yeah!

You smile to an angel—oh!

So, what do I become?

Becoming an angel means that

You can have anything you want

Dreams and ideals are as you desire

But my feelings aren't reaching you!

I can't even remember the coldness of tears

You become attracted to angels—yeah!

You act like an angel—oh!

So, where are you going?"

Mikael looked as if he was ready to die of embarrassment at first, but his face slowly turned to a sort of introspective soul-searching. Amelia didn't know exactly what to say. He wasn't very…good, exactly. It was actually kind of creepy. "Umm, reminds me of Bob Dylan," she tried sheepishly.

"Huh?" Mikael asked. However, Amelia just shook her head and listened politely. 

When the song was over at last, Raphael rejoined them. "I wish you the best!" Amelia cried out, and then bid them adieu. "My band's calling me over. We play again in a half an hour. Bye…nice meeting you both!"

Amelia found Zelgadiss talking with Van, his dour friend from school. "Van? What a surprise! Are you here to…sing?" she asked truly unsure what it might be that he could do musically. 

"I'm here to support Hitomi. She's next." Curt and to the point, that was Van.

Xelloss standing nearby overheard him and rolled his eyes, making Amelia laugh. "Ha, ha…Oh, I'm sorry…I wasn't laughing at her…or you! I was just…thinking how much a guy I just met reminded me of…you, Xelloss!"

"Me?" Xelloss intoned curiously.

"Yes, the friend of the singer just up. His name was Mikael. It wasn't his face, but his voice that was like yours," she explained.

"I hope it was better than his friend's. I don't think that singer has a chance," Xelloss shook his head.

"Shhhh," Van hissed. "She's about to begin."

"Of course…" Xelloss smiled and turned to face the stage politely. 

[Author's note: The Japanese voice actor for Mikael, from the good but little-known anime Tenshi Ni Narumon, was the same as for Xelloss.]

Hitomi may have worn a simple dress and sung to a prerecorded background track, but she was outstanding in her rendition of Remember Fanelia. Her voice was clear and pure, ever on key and full of feeling. Lina was quietly shocked. She'd known this girl off and on for years, and she'd never heard her sing! But her voice was like crystal tears… She would be a finalist for sure!

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Twenty-six. ~*~ 


	27. Chapter 27

The Slayers: Lina   Zelgadiss  Xelloss  Gourry  Amelia  Val  Filia  Sylphiel 

~*~    Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special!    ~*~

Part Twenty-seven

**~*~**    

Now that Xelloss had arrived, the relief was evident in Lina's whole disposition and deportment.  Now she could enjoy watching and listening to the competitors-- so, she did.

Returning bands trying out together for the second cut were tuning up or sitting around talking or listening.  Lina recognized a few of her friends from the Suzaku Seven.  One, Tamahome, was deep in conversation with one of the members of the band she now knew as Leafe Knights. 

"See that guy with Tamahome?"  Zel asked her. 

"With the white mop of hair?  Nice looking, huh?" she smiled.

"If you say so," Zel grumbled.  As if he cared about things like that!  What was with Lina sometimes?  "He's a math major, ah…  Sasame's his name.  Friend, I guess of Hayate's.  Both members of…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know…the Leafe Knights.  Another bunch of knights—how many does that make?  Good band, however, for a gaggle of vocalists.  Personally, I prefer our buds the SS."  Lina said.

Nodding, Zel agreed.  "Yes.  And more than the one's up there now, DBZ."

"R-iiiiight!"  Lina chuckled.  "Dragon Ball Z!  Should be called the BHG—Bad Hair Guys!"

Zel smiled and shrugged.  "They're not as polished as the others, was my thought.  They're rappers, anyway.  It's a different kind of thing, and sort of hard to compare…"

"Loud too!"  she shouted over the singing boy-band's screamed words.

          '…Woh!  I am full now--  Full blast of power!

          Show up,  come out,  marvelous-- Full blast of power! 

Woh!  I am full now--  Full blast of power!…'

Zel pointed to his plugged ears with a smirk, "I could hardly be the judge of that."

"Maybe I outta get me a pair of earplugs too for the next one of these," Lina said.  "Hey, look!  Speaking of dragons…The Dragons of Heaven and the Dragons of Earth – I got the two names right…right?  Sure I did.  I see Subaru and Seishirou …and there's Hokuto.  Must be time for the bands playing musical instruments to compete in the next round."

But Zelgadiss' attention had roved over to a more attractive diversion: the Goddess Fantastic Club.  Some he remembered from that evening at the dance club.  How could he not?  The lovely Belldandy (lead vocalist for the group) and her two sisters Urd (guitar) and Skuld (bass) were truly guy-candy, and Zel was a guy.

"Uh, Zel?  Where did you go?  Oh, I see.  And there goes Gourry and Val and, of course, Xelloss is already introducing himself.  Filia!" she shouted over her shoulder.  "Guy action over there."

Filia squinted, spotted Val schmoozing with Urd, and snorted, "Huh!  He doesn't have a chance.  She's too smart and clever, besides, I think she's more interested in talking guitar with Zel, see?"

Lina nodded.  And Gourry and Skuld were admiring her shiny bass guitar as well.  "I guess our boys look beyond the flesh and right straight to the heart of the matter."

"All except," Amelia pointed out.  "Poor Mr. Xelloss.  I think he's forgotten all about Miss Bell's boyfriend, Mr. Keichi."

"Not now, look.  Val's gonna save him.  See, he's pulled the idiot over to Kei's keyboards to talk shop so Bell can tune up in peace and quiet…Ha!  Xelly-poo got the message and is moving off in the direction of…the Dragon people, I think.  Well now, what's Zel up to?"  Filia asked.  She was afraid that she might need glasses soon, but was too proud of her 'state of physical perfection' to admit it and get her eyesight tested.  Instead, she depended on others to fill her in on the fuzzy details.

Sylphiel, bored with just looking, said, "Let's go over and see him.  I've never really met them and they're like stars, right?"

"Leave me out of it," Lina said with a brush of her hand through the air.  "I'm gonna chat up Hokuto."

~*~ 

          "So, Zel, how's your car doin' these days.  Haven't seen ya at the auto-shop," Keichii greeted him.  

          "I'm afraid the old one… crashed and burned, you might say," Zel said simply.  "But I have a new one now."

          "Oh yeah?  Crashed and burned?  Yeah, I hear ya.  Stuff like that happens to me all the time.  I run through more cars and motorcycles…"  Keichii smiled at Zelgadiss.  They were about the same height, Zel maybe an inch or two taller.  Zel thought he reminded him of a happy Van. 

          "Is it outside?  Can I have a look at it?"  Keichii asked.

          "Yes, but…no."  Zel shook his head and chuckled.  "I let Xelloss borrow it and I have no idea where he parked it.  It's all right.  I'll swing by the shop later and have you guys check its timing.  I, ah… don't know anything about cars and I guess I should."

          "No problem.  That's where my business comes in.  Oh, by the way, I heard yer band, the Slayers.  You guys were awesome!"

          Zel smiled again, "Thanks."

          "Really!  Our bands gotta tour together!"  Keichii assured him.

          "We did that some over summer with the Suzaku Seven.  It worked out satisfactorily for both bands; I think it might be fun," Zel gaze swept over Bell and her sisters briefly.  "But, Lina makes those decisions for us."  Zel looked for her flaming red hair and noticed her at a distance talking to Hokuto.  Xelloss was there and oddly enough he was not smiling.  "How about we discuss this later, all right?"

          Keichii nodded and waved him off, "Later!  And good luck!"

~*~ 

          Xelloss had slipped away from the goddesses, heart intact, and then raked the room for some familiar faces.  Ah, yes… the Dragon people.  He strode deliberately over close to Subaru, and then stood nearby listening to the Dragon-bands interact.  How two bands could co-mingle and compete so passionately was beyond his experience to balance, but the randomness and edginess of it all excited him, and so he drew nearer.  There appeared to be some kind of power struggle, kept in balance by the two leaders and coincidentally lead singers, Kamui and Fuuma.  At the outskirts different band members paired up and were either deep in discussions he couldn't make out or in the throes of budding romances.  Subaru was nervously adjusting and re-adjusting his outrageous hat—another Hokuto special, Xelloss knew—all the while his older friend—and admirer, so it seemed—Seishirou was speaking to him in a low voice.  Xelloss decided to inch closer and eavesdrop on that conversation just as Lina decided to do the same.

Hokuto jabbed the much older man, Seishirou, in the arm, "Heh!  When it comes to Subaru, you understand everything, right?"

Seishirou shrugged and turned up the corners of his mouth, "Yes.  That's because I put a lot of effort into it!"

Making a heart-shape with her fingers, Hokuto sighed, "Subaru and Sei-chan make a perfect couple."

"H-hokuto!  What are you saying?"  Subaru stuttered and blushed with embarrassment.

Hokuto continued airily, "What are you ashamed of?  Didn't Sei-chan fall for you at first sight?"

Xelloss felt for the poor kid.  Imagine having a sister dredge up such personal facts in front of all your friends and fellow band members, not that anyone was paying her any heed.  The rest of the band seemed caught up in their own little dramas.  He considered extricating Subaru from her, when he felt cool hand on his forearm.

Lina shook her head and pointed to her ear.  "Listen," she mimed.

Hokuto pointed to her brother brandishing her microphone and holding him as if at sword point,  "You Subaru, the current top Onmyouji and the 13th head of the Summeragi clan that has spiritually protected Japan for thousands of years…"  She flicked the microphone toward Seishirou.  "And Sei-chan, the first son of the Sakurazuka clan that protects Japan from the shadows using the same powers as the Onmyouji…"

"Despite what you say, I'm just an ordinary vet.  It may be the family tradition, but I don't have the personality to do that," Seishirou interrupted with a laugh.  "However, since you are my future sister-in-law…  Let's deepen our family relationship from now on."

If Xelloss thought that Subaru was disturbed by his sister's early words, it was nothing compared to the reaction following his good friend's declaration.  "W- What exactly do you mean by that?!"  Subaru gasped, sputtered and stuttered simultaneously.

But Seishirou just smiled serenely.  "It's almost our turn to go on.  Do I look okay?"

Hokuto turned on her brother, "Why don't you take him over there, someplace less crowded and check?"

"H-Hokuto!"  was all the poor flustered kid could choke out.

"You idiot!  In these times, it's perfectly natural for lovers to act like that!"  she laughed.

Subaru frowned slightly, getting himself under control, "Hokuto-chan!  But putting all that aside…there's something present here.  Something…wrong…"

Xelloss had to agree, but he wasn't sure if they were thinking of the same type of wrong.  Xelloss could barely contain his anger anymore.  He's had his own abuse at the hands of an older man and did not consider the situation unfolding in from of him as amusing at all.  Lina clenched onto his arm tighter, however.  Tight enough to halt his blood flow.

"Hey!"  Hokuto gesticulated wildly, "Are you trying to change the subject?  What happened to the love between the head of the Sumeragi and one of the Sakurazukamori?!  If things don't change fast, there'll be no progress.  Sei-chan, as a man, don't be shy."

He smiled and replied lightly, "I keep trying to set things in motion but…I'm sure I have no charm at all."

Subaru murmured eyes down and askance, "That's not true."

"What's so familiar about that name, Sakura…zuka…mori?  I should know that," Xelloss muttered, then stopped as the conversation continued.

Subaru spoke a word or two in Japanese, which Xelloss could barely make out, much less translate in his head.  With another kind of expression that Xelloss could not quite grasp, Seishirou drew the boy's attention to him again, "Subaru-kun…"

"Yes?"  Subaru answered innocently.

 "Am I sexy?  Will I knock them dead on stage?"  Seishirou's eyes glinted hard, obscuring his inner soul.

Hokuto chucked aloud, "Oh, Sei-chan!  You're fine as a paradise dragonfly, but Subaru was conditioned by our grandmother.  Really!  His morals and fashion-sense were drilled into him by grandmother since he was little and giving him a miserable life as a child.  Like these gloves."  She grabbed her brother's covered hands.  "They're unfashionable, but since granny told him to wear them, he never takes them off.  (By the way, mine are quite fashionable).  But it's fun to match his clothes with his gloves!"

Lina squeezed Xelloss' arm, this time causing him to wince.

"They suit you very well, Subaru-kun."  Seishirou spoke into his ear, earning him another rosy blush.

"Oh ho ho ho ho, I pick out all Subaru's clothes, but you know that…  And his band's costumes, too!  Do you like them?  My design!  Oh, and my fantastic outfit too!"

Seishirou turned to Hokuto and said, "I think the band's outfits are striking, but it doesn't matter what I like.  In fact, what we like really doesn't matter at all.  Oh, but…you look nice too."  Then in a split second, he returned to Subaru saying, "I was speaking of the clothes, by the way.  Whether or not the judges like the music is what brings us here today."

Subaru retreated into what Xelloss thought appeared to be a melancholy state.  He gazed into the far off distance and asked, "Why do people have feeling such as 'liking'?  If it's of so little value, then why do we like things?"

Seishirou paused a moment to consider before answering, "It's because we're lonely.  With the feeling of 'liking' we can dream.  There's no person so strong that he can live without dreams.  But I really like you Subaru-kun.  I'm not such a fool that I'd force such a feeling on you, **but.**.."

Xelloss tensed, ready to jump to Subaru's side.  That older guy was close to intimidating Subaru into a corner.

Subaru began, "Seishirou-san, I…"

Seishirou  pushed harder, "Yes, Subaru-kun?"

Xelloss growled, ready to pounce, when Lina beat him to it, "Hey Hokuto, Subaru!  Great lookin' band getups!  You do those all by yerself?  Mebbe I will let ya take on my band next!  'Course, the striped thing is pretty eye-catching, eh?"

Subaru caught Xelloss' eye and smiled.  He looked relieved, if not harried as well.  But the level of alert was lowered, thanks to Lina's intervention.  Seishirou backed off and faded into the crowd, but not before he met Xelloss' eyes with his own.  A cold chill ran down Xelloss' spine followed by a flash of heat leaving the hair on his arms standing on end.  What was it about that man that gave him the creeps?  

He closed his eyes and focused his attention, scanning his memory banks for the information.  Weeks ago at the beach house, Subaru opened up and told a very unusual story.  How had that gone?  Lina had declared that…'Tomorrow is always there, undecided, ready to be discovered, and you can't just cling to all the bad things that have happened to you as an excuse for being to scared to face it!'

Xelloss smiled faintly.  Yes, that was Lina's way of looking forward to the future, good or ill.  

But Subaru had had a different take on it, one that placed more importance on events of the past and their check on the power of free choice.  How had he put it?  'But you can't ignore the past, either.  Things happen for a reason, and past events cause future ones.  So the future isn't as free as you say, I fear.'  

Fear.  Yes, that consolidated all Xelloss had felt emanating from Subaru a few moments ago—fear of the future.  Could he really divine what was to come, or catch a glimpse or two of it?  Xelloss didn't believe Subaru could.  He was sure the kid knew things, however, that he might be unwilling to share.

But he _had_ offered up a story that day.  How had that gone?  Xelloss plugged his ears with his fingers to block out the surrounding voices.  He had a photographic memory, but it required intense concentration to achieve.  It began with a reference to Sakura flowers, cherry blossoms—a creepy poem:

          'Sakura is pink but it wasn't always so  

It used to be white, as white as the snow

          But under every cherry tree

          Lies a buried dead body 

          The roots drunk up all the blood

          The bodies turned all into mud

          Now the petals are as pink

          As the purest child's cheek.'

When asked where he had heard the poem, Subaru had claimed not to remember but that somebody had told it to him once under a cherry tree…  Ah, yes, now he remembered what Subaru had said:

          'It was spring, and I was visiting the Sakura Burial Mounds with my grandmother, receiving training, you see.  And I…don't know what happened, but I was wandering around—sakura is so beautiful! —and I saw this person.  I was seven.  I saw this person, a young man in a high school uniform.  It was strange that anyone would be there, since it's private property, but I didn't think about that at the time.  I asked what he was doing, and he said that poem, told me to remember…  It's called 'The Sakura Murders,' I think.  And then…he made a promise, but I can't quite remember…but I know that he said we'd meet again someday.  And…I believe him.  The future…isn't as undecided as you say…' 

          Xelloss smiled, he had located the information he had been searching for: the Sakura Burial Mounds.  That seemed familiar…  Something he HAD wanted to forget…but now he wanted to remember, badly.

"Miss Lina!  Mr. Xelloss!  Oh, and Mr. Zelgadiss, good I found you all!"  Amelia cried between pants.  "It's time for us to go back on stage in fifteen minutes!"

Xelloss hadn't budged.  "Mr. Xelloss, are you okay?  You look so…dreamy-eyed."  Amelia peered up to his face with sensitivity.

Lina thwacked him on the back, "Wake up, buster!  Time to put on a show!"

"Ah…ha!"  He gasped having the wind nearly knocked out of him.  "Of course, MISS Lina."  He smirked and bowed irreverently to her, then twisted out of the way of another Lina-punch.

~*~

"…The winner in the 'new Band Entry' category is… the Slayers!"  the announcer shouted over the screams of the audience.  "So would the musicians and the drummer please come to dais to receive your prize."

"AND the drummer?"  Xelloss complained.  "Was he insinuating that _I _am not a musician?"

"Naw, he insulted ya flat out," Val barked out with a harsh laugh.  "No in-**sin**-u-atin' at all."

Xelloss made a face, "Well, tell me, Vally-boy, what's the difference between a keyboard and an onion?"  He paused a moment for Val to think it through.  "No one cries when you cut up a keyboard." 

Gourry and Zelgadiss were chuckling by now as they pushed their way up to the raised platform where the awards rested.

"That drummer one was pretty funny," Xelloss overheard Gourry say to Zel.

"Oh, you think so?"  Xelloss said archly.  "Well, I got one for you.  How many bass players does it take to screw in a light bulb?"  

Zelgadiss shook his head and tried to shove Gourry further away and put an end to the jokes before they went sour.  Gourry, however, out-weighed Zelgadiss by 50 pounds or so, and could not be displaced.

Before he could stop him, Xelloss cut to the punch line, "Only one…but he broke ten bulbs before he had to ask the lead guitarist how to do it after determining that they didn't _push in!"_

Oh joy…  "All right, Xelloss, that's enough," Zel growled.  Gourry had stopped laughing and they were only a few feet from the dais.

"I have one for you too," Xelloss said glibly.  Without pause, he said, "What do a vacuum cleaner and an electric guitar have in common?  Hmmm?  Can't guess Zel-gaaaaaaadiss?  Well, I can tell you from personal experience that both suck when you plug them in!"

Lina caught that one and laughed.  "Fun-neeeee!"

Now Zelgadiss was inspired to tell one of his own making.  "All right, drummer-boy, you in particular ought to get this one—not!  What do you get when you cross an **augmented** chord with a **diminished** one?  A **demented** one!"  Zel smirked into his best friend's surprised face, satisfied that he had silenced him for a while as he climbed the first of the steps and stood in line beside Lina.

Lina accepted the award certificate, the packet of free-bies from the sponsors—including a free hour at Macross Studios, and a check.  She grinned when she looked at the amount they had won and waved it in the air, "This'll help, thanks!  Ya know what they say about us musicians, right?  Stuff like…'what's the first thing a musician says at work?—Do you want fries with that?'"

The crowd roared with laughter.

The best singing group award went to the Suzaku Seven next.  They stood and took their bows.  Tamahome and Hotohori carried the awards off stage as Nuriko and Tasuki sought out Lina for a brief word.

The best band over-all honor was awarded to, split by, the two opposing Dragon bands.  Fourteen women and men from the bands crowded the stage extending both friendly and antagonistic glances toward one another.  Pretty tense, all-in-all.

The emcee for the event stood at the podium for a final word before sending them all home.  "As is the customary finale, the four finalists—five today—are asked to do a number for the crowd.  Just entertainment!  Make it fun and dance if you all feel the twitch!  We'll start with Miss Hitomi, our solo winner…"

She sang _Hemisphere_  (from _Ra Xephon_).  It began bubbly, then spread to a sort of plaintive cry for identity, her beautiful sweet voice carrying though the hall the driving beat rising with the strings setting off a round of kids dancing in small clusters.  The Rayearth and Sailor girls formed a line of 'backup' singer/dancers and all had a blast.

Lina and Tamahome, Kamui and Fuuma completed a transaction just as the song ended.  Kamui hopped up to the podium as both Dragon bands tumbled onto the stage, battling for positions at the shared instruments.  "Instead of going last, the Dragons of the Earth and Heaven are next doing a combined song called  '_eX Dream_' (from the '_X'_ series)."

Wow, that song chased even the most reticent out of their chairs to dance.  Together, the two bands covered any weaknesses that any one of them alone may have had, and Kamui…his voice was amazing.

Lina had conveyed 'the plan' to her own band for their final number while the cheering fans quieted.  

"Whatever you say," Val shook his head.  He never thought his racy number would be the closing one for the contest.

Hotohori stepped to the front and grabbed the microphone, "The Slayers and Suzaku Seven have been on the road together this summer and decided to roll our final pieces into one—so you may all get out of here quicker.  When we come to the chorus, feel free to join in…the words, well, you'll catch on immediately.  Thank you!"

Val grabbed a microphone and stood with the SS guys, gave Gourry a nod, then waited for the guitar startup.  "Nyeeeeeeeee AAAAAaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"  he screamed at the top of his lungs.  He let out a blood curdling shout, which was followed by Xelloss coming in on the drums.  It was his truly raunchy, grunge rocker '_Only the Lonely Soldier_'.

Theirs was the only band brave enough to perform anything like it that day, and the crowd roared, getting into the tough, low-brow lyrics, rough style, and easy to shout 'Only the lonely sol-DER!' chorus.  Val in his striped Zoot-suit look pranced and flailed against a rainbow background of Chinese-dressed Suzaku Seven dancers.  It was a spectacular, unrefined, and completely exciting end to the event.  And when it was over, Val lapped up the adulation and grinned as hordes of new girl-fans swamped him.  It _weren't_ opera, but it was moving!

**~*~**    

Filia slipped her ponytail through the elastic band, shook out her striped costume and hung it on a hanger.  "Ready for mine, Sylphiel?"

"Uh, huh...this'll cost us to clean all these, yuh know?  I think I'll do it myself and just send out the suits.  The dark-haired beauty took Filia's costume and hung it alongside Lina's wild one.  "Gourry dear?  I don't see your things yet.  Oh, I'll fold them for you."  She smiled and looked up fetchingly into his dreamy blue eyes.

"Uh...okay.  Ah, thanks."  Gourry dumped his load of clothes in a heap, the last being his t-shirt that he'd used to wipe off his bass guitar before locking it up in its case.  "That'll give me time ta collect cables."

"You're welcome," she sighed.  She brushed his arm with her hand, then turned to her work.  

Zelgadiss, already done with his clothes and guitar, was ticking off items on their equipment list.  He didn't want to remove parts belonging to the contest or leave anything of the Slayers behind.  Zel looked up to see Gourry shaking his head in confusion.  Gourry caught Zel and shrugged his shoulders.  "Guess she's just bein' friendly and all... again.  Just funny.  I was getttin' used ta bein' ignored."

Zel returned his shrug.  "Must be getting bored with the guy.  It has been a few weeks.  Too bad.  I was getting to like him."

Gourry hadn't moved.  "Yer kiddin' right?"

"No, he's a good listener and a computer hardware geek.  My kind of..." Zel replied.

"Not 'bout him..." Gourry interrupted.  "I meant, ya don't think she's...droppin' him, do ya?  Bein' engaged is serious."

"She's too young, obviously, to sustain a long term relationship.  There... that's our equipment, except for the drum parts Val added on, but he and Xelloss appear to be checking that over.  As fun as this has been, I have other things to do.  I'm ready to go home."

"Yeah, me too."  Gourry flipped his mane of hair to the side.  He was unable to let the other problem go, however, which was quite unlike the usually easy-going guy.  "I juss don't think she should be flirtin' with nobody."

Meanwhile, Val and Xelloss were disassembling their pieces from the contest drum kit.  Val dropped a shiny bit of hardware into the parts bag and Xelloss crossed it off the list.  Filia left Amelia and Lina to sort out the remaining microphones from the Slayers equipment and joined the two boys on the floor.  "Need any help?"

"Nah, thanks anyway.  Just takes a few minutes."  Val glanced over at what Xelloss was doing. "Not that one, Xell-bob.  I know, it looks like ours but it was already attached, I remember seein' that and thinkin' it was like ours when I was settin' up our cymbals."  Val pointed out the last fitting which was just out of his reach.  "Can ya undo that one and then what's left on the list?  The stuff I added on, I circled, see?"

"O-kay, do-kay, Mr. Val!"  Xelloss answered cheerfully.

"Sooooo, you're about finished then?"  Filia asked.  Not bothering to wait for an answer, she continued.  "So, Val?  My parents have, like, these tickets to go to some ballet in Atlas City next Friday night and... it's a thing we've done for...like, forever...as long as I can remember anyway, but _this_ time I get to invite a friend and I thought maybe you'd want to come along...and I KNOW it'll be booooring and all but we'll go to a great place for dinner and get to stay at the Astoria Plaza Hotel, which is _really_ fancy, that night.  We'll be back Saturday sometime.  So, what do you say?"

Val sat up and stopped his work a moment.  "Uh...I'd like ta and everythin', but..."

"But?" she placed her hands on her hips.

"That's the Friday I gotta be at court."  Val stood up and folded his arms over his chest.  "And, I don't know fer how long."

"Court?"  Fillia echoed.

"Yeah...Jillas and Gravos.  They're on trial fer holding me hostage last summer and I'm testifyin' on their beee-half.  They helped in the end..."

"That sucks!" she commiserated briefly, and then pursued the topic.  "So, if Xelloss saved your life-- or at least got you well--" Filia said, and then asked Xelloss pointedly, "And didn't those two creeps call you their 'boss'?  You know, I'm capable of remember facts too!  Then, if I'm not mistaken—which I'm not!—you ought to be going to court with him."

"Well, I'm not," Xelloss spoke, his voice echoing from the depths of the bass drum from which he was removing his bass drum pedal.  His tone sounded as if he were a tiny bit pleased to inform Filia of her 'error'.  "McGywn took my statement and wrote me out of the entire enterprise."  To her surprised expression he added, "It certainly is nice to be special."

"Ex-ten-uuuu-ate-ting cir-cum-stances," Val explained.  "Lucky shit..."

"So...you can't go," Filia huffed.  

Xelloss pulled his head back and smiled, "But _I_ can!"

Still laboring over the cables, Zelgadiss and Gourry continued their discussion.  Zelgadiss raised an eyebrow in response to Gourry's condemnation of Sylphiel's flirtatious ways.  He offered his view. "Probably not.  Sylphiel shouldn't be flirting, but its better she discover that she's made a mistake now than after they're married."

"Yeah, guess so.  Me?  I get married once.  That's it."  Gourry said with certainty.

"Fine, if you get lucky and make the right choice."

"I will, I believe that a person makes their own luck happen."  Gourry's eyes switched over to Lina and back.  "…but it'll be awhile 'fore that happens"

"Well," Zel laughed, "No matter how long it takes for you, you'll have me beat."

"Huh?  You not plannin' on gettin' married...ever?"

"Let's just say it's highly unlikely and leave it at that," Zel said in his clipped fashion that meant he probably had a weak logical excuse for his stance on some emotional issue.

"Yuh don't wanna have yer own place an' kids an' a special person to share it all with someday?"  Gourry pressed.

"Want?  Well, I can want it all, but what I'm saying is that it's unlikely that I'll find that right girl…any girl for that matter… and settle down.  Actually, I can't imagine kids either."  Zel met Gourry's eyes.  "Well, it's the _truth_.  Let's face it, I'm not going to win any awards for either my mutated appearance or my stoical personality.  I'll be satisfied to land a job after college."

And at the other end of the stage, Xelloss stowed the final hardware in the box and stood up.  "That's the final week for the Russian ballet troupe Kirov's presentation of "Le Corsaire"_— _in the area; and it is outstanding!  I'd love to see it, and I wouldn't be any trouble, I promise."  He could see the uncertainty in Filia's eyes, or surprise at his flood of information and interest.  Her lack of confidence in her ability to control the situation was apparent.  "I'll pay for my own meals and room, of course," he added quickly.  What good was pride going to do him around Filia anyway?                                                

"He'd have a good time."  Val said coming to Xelloss' defense oddly enough.  Perhaps he was still basking in the glow of his own moment in the spotlight.  In a voice too low for Filia to hear he muttered, "And I wouldn't have to worry 'bout you an' him, since he's got a girlfriend these days."  

"Well..." Filia narrowed her eyes a moment, looking Xelloss over.  "You don't think _Eris_ will mind?"

"Ah...yes...well...actually...no.  I don't think so..." Then, in an imperceptible whisper, he added, "...not any more."

"Hnnn," she sniffed.  "Yeah, well, I'll check with mom and see if that's okay with her then.  Although, I can't believe I'm letting you horn in on this thing."

"Thanks, Filia.  It will be fantastic, you'll see!"  Xelloss said brightly, and then grabbed hold of one bag to tote it to the van outside.  "Oh, say...Zel-gaaaaaaa-diss!"

Gourry was about to argue with Zel about his miss-perceptions concerning his looks and his screwed up outlook on life in general, when Xelloss ran into them.  It was a good thing since nothing Gourry could have said would have broken through Zel's tough protective barrier of denial.  Zelgadiss was afraid to try any serious attempts at dating because he was afraid to fail, his thin veneer of confidence and male ego were far too fragile at this point in his life.  Maybe with a successful venture under his belt someday and he might dare to dream.

"Yeah, I'm right here.  You don't have to scream, Xelloss.  Anyway, you have my car keys," Zel began.  He caught an odd look on his friend's face and misinterpreted it.  "Just keep them, for now.  Grab _your_ stuff and leave the box for someone else to carry to the van.  Come on,  lead on.  Val will take everyone else home."

"So," Amelia broke in because everyone was about to disperse.  "We'll all see each other after lunch at the school to go to orientation and… identification pictures… and… sign up for clubs…and…the sports team coaches will be there and…  Look for me!  I'll be registering prospective new student body council members!"

"Yeah, that's the plan," Lina answered with an overhead stretch and a yawn to dissolve away her tension from the contest.  "I might not wake up in time, though…"

"I'd come over and getcher, but I'm gonna be at the house…  Ya know, Xelloss' old place that burned down?  Doing some lot prep there and I gotta get in as much time learning stuff as I can."  Gourry's wide-eyed blues hoped for Lina's forgiveness.

"Oh, you bet.  That's important stuff.  S'okay, Amelia can give me a call, right?"

"You bet, Miss Lina!"

"Later!"  everyone cried out.

"So…" Zel nudged Xelloss.

"Hmmm?"

"So?  Where's the car?"

"Car?  Oh, gods, Zelgadiss!"  Xelloss' eyes flew open.

"Yes!  My car!  The one you drove to get here!"  Zel spat out along with a dose of his rising hysteria.

Xelloss appeared baffled.  "I honestly can't remember…"

Zelgadiss stopped and dropped his bags.  "What?!"

Xelloss watched the myriad of emotions wash over his best friend's face for just a moment longer.  One, two, three…  "In all the rush to get here and the trauma…I…"  He scratched his head, then added brightly, "Well, I just plain can't remember where I parked it!"

"Xelloss…"  Zel growled.  He drew his hands into fists and commenced to twitch with pent up anger.  He raised his eyes to search for and locate Xelloss'.  That's when he perceived that twinkle in his friend's purple cat-eyes and his broadening smile-- that annoying expression of superiority.

"Just kidding!"  Xelloss giggled.  "But…"

Zelgadiss started with alarm, "What?"  What, _now_?!

"But we'd better hurry," Xelloss said as he picked up Zel's clothes bag.  "I may have parked it in a tow-away, no-parking zone!"

"Damn you anyway," Zel sputtered.  

The two guys shot off like bullets.  Of course, the car was parked safely under a street light, half a block from the hall, intact, but the joke had been fun anyway!

~*~ End, Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Twenty-seven.  


	28. Chapter 28

****

The Slayers: **Lina Zelgadiss Xelloss Gourry Amelia Val Filia Sylphiel**

~*~ Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special! ~*~

Part Twenty-eight

~*~

"Xelloss, what are you doing here?" Lina asked through a yawn. She squinted through her bangs at the cheerful visage on the other side of the threshold. "And at this hour of the morning?"

"I brought you a song, another song for a duet."

"Couldn't this have waited until we were at the school later? In fact…shouldn't you be at the university now?" Narrowing her eyes, Lina said to his answering shrug, "We need more new songs?"

"I think...just this one more. I downloaded the music onto this CD and printed out a translation. It's all in the envelope."

"I suppose," Lina said as she took the proffered document, "that you want to come in and listen to it with me."

"Well," he smiled. "I'd like to...but I have to meet Zelgadiss over at Rezo's house. Zel dropped me here after classes." He stepped back from the door, turning slightly toward the street. "I'd better get going. It doesn't do to be late when either of those two are part of the appointment... and doing me a favor."

"Both the Greywords boys are into doing favors these days?" she smirked.

"No, not really. That Rezo is willing to let me back in his house is a favor on his part. That Zelgadiss is acting as an intermediary forwarding my cause is another favor of sorts."

"Xelloss..." Lina whispered. "What did you _do_ to the poor man? It's bad luck messin' with a blind man!" Then a realization flooded her mind. "This has something to do with why you were so late to the contest yesterday, doesn't it? Oh…and you thought I'd forgotten about that, huh?!"

But he didn't answer. His smile was gone.

"Oh, hey...was it so very terrible...what you did?" At first, Lina spoke lightly, but when he hid his face and nodded, she jumped in his path. "Xelloss..." She grabbed his head and swept away the hair from his face. "Tears? Xelloss, dammit, what happened?"

He brushed away the remnants of moisture from his eyes briskly. Now that was an affliction he'd like to grow out of: crying like a baby… "Lina, I...I'm the blind one, I guess. I thought she liked me...the real me!" He barked a laugh, "Not as some go-between for her and her…mentor. I mean, I didn't ask for much. Nothing deep and meaningful...no _love_...or anything. Just...someone to like me for who I am, the way I am now with no past. What an idiot, right? Just like you always said...like you always _knew_, huh?"

Lina scrunched up her face. "_'Have known',_" she corrected him. "Uh, depends. I'll walk you over there, 'kay? Keep talking, then I'll decide what you are."

He caught her in a little half-smile and returned it. "Okay. You going outside dressed in that?" Adding in a rush, "Notthatthere's anythingwrongwiththewayyoulook!"

She froze in place. The t-shirt was fine, but… "Give me a sec to put on some shorts!" she said with a blush painting her cheeks.

They walked in mutual silence past a few houses. "So I take it you and Eris broke up..."

"You're getting hot..."

Lina smiled, "... and from what I can figure out it involved her work with Rezo. Close?"

"Hotter still."

"She tried to make you...she used $ex to lure you...then to get you to do something to Rezo, didn't she?"

"Ouch!" he winced. "Lina! You make me sound cheap and easy."

"What did you _do_, Xelloss?" Lina demanded. "You didn't...HURT the man, did you?"

"Brrrr..." Xelloss frowned. "Getting cold now. No. Lina, I'm not that desperate-- or that evil. You know that, don't you?"

"Yeah, sure," she acquiesced. "I just can't imagine what she wanted from you."

"You mean besides my fascinating conversational skills and hot young body?" His turn to smirk as she frowned. "Well, there was something else I could do for her. Something Zelgadiss wouldn't. Once again, Zelgadiss proves that he's the better man. A man of honor..."

"Eh, he's just a guy with his own faults too, Xelloss. Girls aren't his weakness though, that or beating up on old blind guys."

Xelloss shrugged noncommittally. "Okay, I might as well tell you before you fabricate another even worse scenario for me." He sighed then began again, "She wanted to help Rezo- she, meaning Eris. She idolizes the man. She wanted to get his notes back, reassemble the data, and recreate the experiment that...that...went wrong and nearly killed Zelgadiss. She wanted to be the one to cure Rezo's blindness."

"Well, that sounds rather high and mighty of her but surely nothing too awful..."

Xelloss raised a hand to stop her. "I broke into his lab, Lina. The one in the basement of his house that he had sealed after the explosion. He was supposed to be out all morning. We only needed a few minutes...I only had an hour before I was supposed to meet Zelgadiss back home for a ride to the contest. But...it had an encoded lock, which I had to break physically since I'm not as talented at lock picking as Zelgadiss. Then the door wouldn't budge. Then...well...it took most of my time just getting past the seal. I had time to scoop up all the papers I could find and check the lockers and desk drawers for other files or notebooks, when Rezo came home. He heard me climbing up the stairs from the basement and...He could smell the chemicals and dust on me. He figured out what I had done immediately and went ballistic, not that I can blame him really. I knew I'd been wrong to do it, even if it was for a good cause. I knew it was out of bounds and that he had trusted both Zelgadiss and me—Val, too—not to go exploring when we had the chance. But, well, there I was caught red-handed." 

"But surely Eris is at fault as much as you!"

"Ah...not so..."

"He knows, doesn't he? He knows that it was Eris who wanted that stuff, right? You did tell him **that**, didn't you?" Lina grabbed him by the arm and squeezed tight enough to make him gasp.

"No..."

"No? Well what did you tell him? You had to have said something!"

"Well, yes...I said... 'That's a secret!' And he was...not pleased. He threw me out and told me that...he never wanted to hear my voice in his house again. Then..." Xelloss' voice cracked with emotion. "He told Mrs. Scherer...that I was no longer welcome in their home."

"Oh, Xelloss..." Lina said gently. She patted him gingerly on the back a couple times. "I'm sorry." 

A few houses further and Rezo's home was in view. 

"Well that was a bit rash on his part. He must agree since he's ready to listen to you now. And you must tell him the truth. He may already know it from her or from some other source. Lying will only make the situation worse. You know that certainly!"

Xelloss nodded. "I'm not without any values, Lina. But telling on her...that would be wrong, too."

"That's _her_ problem. You've already decided the romance is over so...time to come clean. You have nothing to lose at this point." Uncertain whether or not she was getting through to him she added, "If you don't...I will."

"Lina!" He whined. He was horrified, and—yep-- she'd do it!

"I got my own honor code, buster. Now go in there and settle this now. Do it for Zel, if not for yourself." And with those words, Lina turned to sit on the hood of Zel's car. "I'll be waiting right here."

Eris pulled up at that moment in a friend's borrowed car. Lina started to get up and intercept her, but thought the better for it and held her position. "This should be interesting," she thought. "And I'm always here to break things up if they get TOO interesting…"

Eris slammed the door shut and ran after Xelloss, catching him as he was starting up the walk to the house. "Xelloss! Wait a sec!"

"Eris? Oh, ah…hello."

Lina could only hear bits and snatches of what was being said, wishing she magically had Zel's wonderful hearing. She could make out Eris apologizing. She had tried to call Xelloss but he hadn't been home yesterday. Lina snorted to herself, "Well, duh! Lady, don't you pay attention to his life? He only had the most important contest to play for all afternoon and evening!"

Eris felt bad about forcing Xelloss to do…something…wrong. Lina wrinkled up her nose as Eris assured Xelloss that she loved him and would make it up to him. _Really_. 

"Bullshit," Lina muttered. Xelloss, however, was softening, she could tell. His posture was compliant, his face docile. Lina felt sick and angry all of a sudden.

Eris was finishing up, "I really will, but…"

"But, _but_?!" Lina burst on the scene ready to stand up to this victimizing witch. "But, don't tell Rezo of your plans, ya mean? What's Xelloss supposed to tell the man, his step-father – or nearly, but that's just a detail that we needn't bother about right now—huh?" Lina drew a deep breath, then continued before anyone else could stop her. "You think he oughta stand by some dumb story like '_it was just a sudden impulse I had'_? Rezo may be blind, but he's not stupid!"

Using Xelloss like a shield to screen herself from Lina's onslaught, Eris was unnerved at first. Then as her anger stirred she hissed into his ear, "Aren't you gonna stand up for me?"

Then Lina figured it out. Eris, the older woman, the controlling woman; she reminded her of another who had once used Xelloss for her own foul purposes. Xelloss was putty in her hands, conditioned to listen-and-obey…by Zelas.

Lina did not give her a chance for a quick comeback. "If you really—gulp—have feelings for Xelloss, then you'll walk in there and explain to Rezo why Xelloss broke into his lab to steal his research papers. If you don't, Xelloss will know that you actually don't care about him very much at all, and I will go in there and tell Rezo the truth! Yeah, and he'll believe what I have ta say 'cause…he's a sharp cookie who recognizes my superior honesty—er, something like that…"

Maybe Lina was hoping that Eris would just back down with a reasonable line like, 'You are right of course, Lina'. It didn't happen that way though, but what occurred instead was perhaps better for Xelloss in the long run.

Eris bristled, grabbed Xelloss by the elbow and pushed him ahead of her toward her car. "Little _bitch_…" she hissed under her breath.

Xelloss heard that. That _single_ word spoken out of anger and her embarrassment – the embarrassment born when Lina revealed the truth about the shallowness of her feelings toward Xelloss— impressed him. That one word, more than anything else he had heard in the two girls' exchanges, acted like a jolt of electricity to his brain waking him up. Eris calling Miss Lina a 'bitch' opened his eyes. And how it affected him! His heart had been breaking under the verbal attack, but that word, said like a curse upon the 'light of his life', stabbed directly at his heart, cauterizing the wound. And as the injury sealed over, even some of the pain began to trickle away, but so did his happiness, however temporary it had been. He removed her hand from his arm. "I'm going in now. Eris, you may come or go as you like. It's your choice." His hollow tone warned her of his altered state of mind and heart.

Eris followed him into the house, but she was not happy.

Half an hour later, Xelloss and Zelgadiss emerged. Xelloss smiled to see Lina had waited for them.

"Well, that's that," Zel sighed.

"Yes, and thanks again for being our mediator. I broke a trust and I know Rezo's still a bit mad, but we're family again."

"Yeah? Good ta hear that! Families gotta forgive and forget and stick together," Lina declared. She visibly relaxed now that her extended family was again playing in concert.

Zel checked his watch, "We still have time for lunch before heading off to the school to waste a bit more of my life." He met Xelloss' eyes. 

"Shall we invite Miss Lina along to _sup_ as well?" Xelloss smiled.

"Why not?" Zel smiled in return. "Lina?"

"You have ta ask? Just drive on!" Lina shouted from the back seat of his car into which she had already crammed her petite frame.

"Yes, Jeeves," Xelloss chuckled at Zel. "Heave HO!"

Zel chuckled and slipped into his comfortable bucket seat. "Oh joy…"

~*~

Later that evening, Val was studying a photograph that he held in his hands. Musing.

"What's that?" Xelloss asked in passing. On closer inspection, he recognized the people pictured. "Oh…"

"'S all right," Val said in a rare softened voice. "I do this every so often."

"Your family," Xelloss whispered.

"Yeah. The whole bunch." Val blinked away his blurring vision.

Val and Xelloss fell into mutual silence a moment. 

"Sometimes, when I have ta think 'bout somethin' important and make a decision, I look at these and wonder what that boy woulda done. What stupid things I could have avoided, bein' him…with them. Helps with choices, I think."

Xelloss sat on the arm of the couch beside Val and asked, "You've come to a decision about something recently?"

"Yeah." Val looked up at Xelloss then added, "I'm gonna change ma last name. I'm no 'Gaav' anymore. I'm gonna be one of these guys, the _Agares_. Val…well, _Valentine_ Agares, from now on. Called our law-yer an' the papers shoulda been filed today. So… whadaya think?"

Xelloss smiled and squeezed his friend's shoulder. "I think that's great, Val _Agares_." Then, thinking he might be becoming a bit too mushy and serious, he added in jest, "Does that mean you are going to cut your hair and start wearing polo shirts? Maybe 'go out for the team'?"

Val's golden eyes narrowed and darted up to meet Xelloss' disappearing ones, then softened again. "Ah, naw…" then he chuckled a bit. "Just 'cause I'm changin' ma name don't mean I 'm changin' ma aa-pear-ance none! Hey, this little kid—me—might'a grown up with these brothers and sisters, but that don't mean he didn't turn out _cool_!"

Xelloss opened his eyes in surprise, then joined Val in a gasping laugh.

After a minute or two, Xelloss started to get up. Val stopped him, "Ya know, you could do the same thing. For _real_ this time."

Xelloss reset himself. "Oh. Well… I can't really be a 'Greywords'. Rezo didn't adopt me and…it wouldn't be fair to Zelgadiss, as good a friend as he's been. A constant reminder of our connectedness would be like a slap in the face to him. Yes, I have that much sensitivity! No, Metallium I was born and shall remain. Maybe I can be the one to set the name straight and leave a legacy behind to be proud of, eh?"

Val nodded, "Just don't treat it like a curse."

"Curse, you say? No, that's my little brother you're thinking of!" Xelloss giggled and poked Val in the arm. "Oh, and speaking of Zelgadiss…"

"Dinner's done, if you two are hungry," Zel said as he entered the front room drying his hands on a kitchen towel. "We have an appointment with Dr. Lester, remember Xelloss? We were lucky that he could slip us in for his last appointment. So, we have to eat early and run. Anyway, I tried something different this time with the seasoning of the…What? Why are you both smiling? Not another practical joke! No!" Zel hoped anyway.

~*~

Knock, knock! 

"Addendum to notes-- Subject: Abuse of children and the consequences when they grow up." Dr. Lester made a note on the paper, and then looked up at the knock at the office door. "Come in, boys. It's been a few weeks. How was...let's see now... Your battle of the bands contest? That must be over by now."

"Your memory is correct, Dr. Lester!" Xelloss smiled. "We did great! First place in the new band category! Next year we'll have to tough it out with the pros."

"Good thing we took an award this year," muttered Zel. 

"Congratulations!" Dr. Lester looked at Zelgadiss a moment. "How's the university?"

"Fine. The work's fine. Course, with the going back and forth from there to the high school is going to be hectic. Classes for the upper classmen don't actually start until Thursday, but…Xelloss and I might skip until next week. It's just been…" Zelgadiss hunted for the best descriptive word.

"Stressful." The doctor supplied it. "And that's not good for either of you. How about the early entry program for the university? You were looking into that for winter, weren't you? You'd have only one school to work your schedule around then."

"Yes. We got in, but we don't have to go if we change our minds. We have some time to consider it," Zel answered.

"We have our friends at school!" Xelloss inserted. "I kinda look forward to seeing them."

"Someone special? Dr. Lester winked knowingly. He was leading Xelloss into opening up about his private life, which was always in a shambles.

"Just our friends...from the band and all," Zel said. "A few others we'd not see otherwise."

"I'm giving up on girls," Xelloss asserted.

The good doctor raised his eyebrows in question to Xelloss, but it was Zelgadiss who answered, "He's in-between favorites right now."

"Ah...I see. Got burned on one eh?" Dr. Lester chuckled slightly. 

"Toasted..." Xelloss muttered in defeat as he gestured with his arms outspread, and then sighed.

"I know the feeling." The doctor commiserated with Xelloss for a short time then brought the conversation around to the main topic. "...So, your phone message said here that the dojo needs my okay before you can return to work there. Apparently, their insurance will not cover you after sustaining such serious head injuries. Tell me, Xelloss, what kind of work would you be doing?"

"Teaching mostly. I'd work with the advanced students, I guess. I need to workout and keep in shape. As a drummer, I burn up calories like crazy, and if I'm not in condition, I can't keep it up for an hour. I can feel the muscles deteriorating as we speak!" Xelloss collapsed dramatically, wilting across the table.

"Advanced, you say? Dangerous? Guys coming at you with deadly intent, bo staffs, callused feet to the head?" Dr. Lester shook his head. "What do you think your friend should do, Zelgadiss?"

"Something else, but _I'm_ the worry-wort, so he says..." Zel said sarcastically.

"And you are!" Xelloss snorted. "I never get hurt at the dojo! I never have...ever!"

"Then the odds aren't in your favor for the future!" Zel snapped back. He flipped a hand to the side, but hadn't budged from his seat.

"I'd like you to meet a patient of mine. You two have an hour or so to spare me? And did you have dinner already?" The doctor asked deterring an argument, which he figured had been voiced before.

"Dinner, yes. Zel? Are we free?" Xelloss deferred to his best friend and brother by marriage. Zel kept their schedule, calendar, and appointments in his personal planner. 

This time, Zel didn't bother to check it. Zel nodded. No matter what, this was more important, he knew.

"Okay with me, then, but your opinion about my condition is all I came for," Xelloss told the doctor. "That and your signature on the line...right...there." He pointed with a finger, then tapped it lightly on the paper in question.

"You'll get that too," the good doctor smiled as he led the two boys out the back door to his car. "My opinion, that is. Where we are headed, you ask? It isn't far, the Center for Neuro Skills. I have several patients in long-term care there, and more that receive a few weeks intensive care then go home."

"I'm not getting worse, am I?" Xelloss asked half-mocking.

"No," the doctor smiled. He opened the back door of his car for Zelgadiss, then his own. "It's a rehabilitation clinic for brain-injury victims."

They rode in silence for the fifteen minutes trip through traffic to the relative calm on the outskirts of town. "I wasn't thinking of admitting you, Xelloss. There is a young man there whom I'd like you to meet. He can probably use a little hope right now. Last year he was voted the most inspirational player on his football team. Before the accident, he drove his own car, had a new girlfriend, a 3.9 grade point average." Lester spoke over his shoulder at Zel a moment, "He was a real math whiz at GW tech and a jokester."

"What accident?" Zel asked.

"That's the funny thing, there wasn't one single hit that could be blamed. We believe it was the final pin to the ground he received from a play late in the game that may have set it off. Just one in a series of repeated head injuries, all slight, causing mild headaches, but the last one resulted in a subdural hematoma– a rapidly forming blood clot on part of the brain covering. Here we are. Follow me in and just wait in the conference room. I'll bring Curtis there."

Xelloss and Zel found the room and each took a seat. They hadn't long to wait before the doctor opened the room with a kid nearly six feet tall in tow. "I'd like you to meet a couple of friends of mine," Dr. Lester said by way of an introduction. The tall, nice-looking kid at the table looked over his glasses at Xelloss and Zel, two strangers. "Curtis, this is Xelloss..." Xelloss smiled, "...and Zel. Xelloss is a patent of mine who has suffered four close calls and has recovered."

"You think so?" Xelloss said goofily. "I am so relieved. I thought you were about to have me committed or something!"

Zel's eyes went wide. What if this poor kid thought that was an insult? What was the good doctor thinking of, bringing Xelloss here?

Curtis, though, smiled slightly.

Dr Lester continued talking. He asked Curtis about his headaches, behavior problems, plans.

Curtis shook his head, "I wanna go home. I can deal with it. I'm not gonna die." Turning to Xelloss he said, "I'm gonna be a sportswriter. It's my career dream. It's just...just..."

"When he woke up out of a two month coma and went home, things were rough. Then they got worse so that now...Curtis needs more. Here he gets physical therapy, cognitive rehabilitation, mostly for your short-term memory, right Curtis?"

"Yeah," Curtis looked down at his hands. "I get frustrated...lots."

"But you shouldn't take it out on the staff or your roommate." To Zel, the doctor clarified, "He's big and strong and he rages, yells and punches. Punches hard. Damage to his frontal and temporal lobes has destroyed his sense of impulse control. It's something to work on." Turning back to Curtis he added, "It's imperative to correct your behavior in order to be successful in the workplace."

Curtis nodded, "I...know."

"At nineteen you have college to look forward to. All of life."

"I keep a journal. To remember stuff, everything that's happened each day, so I know. So I can keep remembering. But..." He shook his head hopelessly and looked away.

"Curtis must eat from a special menu, work with speech therapists... He can't drive or remember names... Curtis? Can you tell me the names of these two guys?"

"Ah...Zeeel something. I'm sorry..." Curtis looked at first Xelloss, then Zel. "Sorry..."

"Hey, that's my name!" Both Xelloss and Zel said simultaneously.

"No it's not. 'Zel' is my name. You are called 'Xelloss'."

"Oh well, that's now. Once I was called 'Xel'... and you are 'Zel-gaaa-diss'!"

"Only to you. Everyone else calls me 'Zel'... and Curtis? You can too."

"And he can call me 'Xel' also," Xelloss assured the patient with a goofy grin.

"Xelloss and Zelgaaadiss," Curtis smiled triumphantly, with even a hint of humor. "I got it now."

"Xelloss, why don't you walk Curtis over to his next appointment. Zelgadiss and I will meet you back at the car."

"Sure!" Xelloss smiled. "So, where are we going, Curtis?"

"Ah...call me Curt, 'kay?"

"Okay, but if I forget and call you Curtis, don't get mad, promise?" Xelloss giggled.

"I'll try," Curtis replied, but he was serious.

When they were out of sight down the hall, Dr. Lester said to Zelgadiss, "That kid needs to see someone who has succeeded to overcome many obstacles, and recovered for the most part. I'm hoping Xelloss can be a role model of sorts for him."

"That's a first. Xelloss being a role model for improved behavior. He'll be amazed to hear that. But I think you have another motivation behind this meeting."

"You do? And what, Dr. Zelgadiss, would that be?" Dr. Lester teased gently.

"I think you want Curtis to be an anti-role model for Xelloss. 'This could be you after the next injury'." Zel stopped at the door to the car. "And I hope it works. I have tried to talk him out of the dojo work. He needs another form of exercise."

"I agree," Dr. Lester said not bothering to comment on Zelgadiss' correct guess. "Would you go with him? You know, workout or run or whatever I set up for him...to get him started and keep him motivated? I hate to load responsibility on your shoulders, Zelgadiss, so if you are reluctant, just say so. I'll find another way to help Xelloss, don't worry."

"That's all right, doctor. I need a change of venue myself. It would be awkward for me to continue at the dojo without him anyway. Now I don't mind the running, but he's not so keen on just pure exercise without something more...simulating to go with it."

"I see. Then I think I have the perfect solution. Let me try out a few ideas with him first, though." He slowed as Xelloss trotted up to the car. "Oh...Xelloss, thanks for doing escort duty for me. Shall we go back to my office for a few minutes and finish up our appointment?"

"No problemo, Doc!" Xelloss smiled, and settled into his car seat. "So you tell me, what's Curtis' prognosis?"

"Sadly, not good. If he doesn't improve his behavior soon, he'll become a candidate for lifelong institutionalization in the Adult Activities Center for clients with unpredictable behavior. Of the 42 clients at he center, nearly 30 of them have been there over ten years. That's a pretty grim outlook for a young man who was at the top of his world only a year ago."

Xelloss sobered instantly. It could be his story just as easily. "That care must be expensive. Can his parents afford it?"

"They have a lawsuit pending and a large insurance settlement from the school. Yes, he's fine in that respect, although...there are many who aren't as fortunate."

"I'd like to help, both financially and as a friend to him," Xelloss said suddenly. "I can have my lawyer set up an endowment to the center for kids that can't afford the kind of treatment needed. Would that work? I-I told Curtis that I'd come visit him again. I told him, and I hope it wasn't the wrong thing, I told him that if I could survive, then he could and that I'd bring Zelgadiss to play math puzzles with him. Ah...Zelgadiss? That's okay, isn't it?"

Zel nodded and smiled, "Fine with me, Xelloss."

Dr. Lester nodded as well as he started the car. "Think about it some, Xelloss. Before you leave the office today, I'll have the receptionist give you the number for the director of the center for your lawyer to contact. He should advise you as to the impact on your personal finances as well. You have to take care of yourself too."

"Oh, I have plenty of money," Xelloss smiled and closed his eyes. He leaned back on the seat and said, "And I got your point. That could be me someday, right?"

"Yes. The next blow to your head, no matter how insignificant, could set off a..."

"Mind-blowing experience, yeah!" Xelloss laughed. "Anyway…So, what would you have me do at the dojo?"

"Well...for starters...you could teach the beginners, the children only." 

Xelloss made a face. "That's not much exercise. Besides..."

"You could work out alone as well..." Dr Lester tried to suggest.

"Besides..." Xelloss repeated. "Zelgadiss has been asked to do that and I wouldn't want to spoil his opportunity."

"Oh, that's all right, Xelloss," Zel began.

"And then it would be boring and... and..." Xelloss frowned. He seemed unable to formulate his thoughts into words, curiously enough.

"You're worried about working with children?" Dr Lester asked. He was a psychiatrist and a smart insightful man who liked his teen patients.

"That can't be true," Zel said in response. "He's always saying he _wants_ to get married and have a _bunch_ of kids."

Xelloss wouldn't meet the doctor's eyes. He stared out the car window intent on the traffic flow as they re-entered the city proper. This was not a topic he wanted to open now...or any time.

"Xelloss?" Zel asked. "Tell him!"

"Let's go inside and talk about this," the doctor suggested. There was something bothering Xelloss and he knew that he'd have to get to the heart of the problem immediately before it had a chance to eat away at the sensitive kid. "Zelgadiss, maybe you should wait in the reception area."

"No!" Xelloss shouted. He stepped around the car and lowered his voice to say, "Its okay, sorry... He can hear whatever I ... we... we have to say. I have nothing to hide from Zelgadiss; that is, if he doesn't mind."

Zel sighed, "I don't know if I want to... Oh, I'll go, but I warn you, I might want to leave!"

"Very well. We'll start as a group, then allow your friend to come and go as he likes..."

"Or can tolerate," Zel muttered.

Seated around the doctor's desk, sodas in hand, Lester began by repeating his question from earlier. "You have a concern about working with children?"

Xelloss took a deep breath, then said quietly, "When I began taking lessons at the dojo, Sensei, the teacher at the dojo, was informed that I had been severely abused, and that I should be watched. Well, in time I proved to everyone that I was able to control myself, obey the rules, everything. I was the model student, speaking of role models, and well thought of there."

"Highly regarded," Zel muttered.

"But..." prompted the doctor.

"Yes, there's always a 'but' to add, isn't there-- when there's something good to be said about me?" Xelloss said acidly. He didn't pause to hear their remarks, but plowed on. "So, the dojo had to sign an agreement not to allow me to be left with the children...alone. A few times they did...Sensei forgot. I did some teaching but with another student-teacher present. It was...demeaning and chilling to think it was necessary."

"Abuse as a child doesn't make you abuse others as an adult," Dr. Lester tried to assure him immediately. "Police, academics... generally agree that most boys who grow up in abusive homes don't grow up to be abusive in adult relationships. Of course, most people incarcerated for crimes against people were abused as children. However," he held up a hand to stem the flow of objections from Xelloss. "Just let me finish… There are also studies that show that most people who were abused as children do not grow up to abuse others."

"Yeah, but… abuse increases the likelihood of arrest as a juvenile by 53 percent, and as an adult by 38 percent," Xelloss recited his own memorized information on the subject. "_And_… the numbers support the fact that those who DID grow up normally had a relationship with a nurturing adult. I _didn't_. Who _knows_ what I'll do? Maybe I'll become a rapist or a child molester!" Xelloss cried out.

Zelgadiss jumped in his seat at the outburst. "Nonsense. You're nuts, I'll give you that, but not...that way—_never_!"

Dr. Lester nodded, "Zelgadiss has a point." 

For the next few minutes, the doctor continued delving into Xelloss' concerns _hopefully_ ameliorating them in the process. "Now, stop reading all those half-cocked Internet studies and just live a little. If you have questions or problems call me first. Agreed?"

Xelloss smiled. "Okay-dokay doc!"

"By the way, tell me about the women in your life now," Dr. Lester smiled in a relaxed manner.

Xelloss frowned at Zelgadiss, who pretended to cough as he laughed and shook his head in response. "I didn't say a thing. Your love-life is not my business, most of the time…"

"You mentioned problems?" The doctor turned the conversation back to him.

"Um...I'm kinda breaking up with my current girlfriend."

"Kinda? How's that work?"

"I want to, um... see others and she wants me exclusively."

Zelgadiss raised an eyebrow. That didn't sound like Xelloss. He was the one looking for a commitment, usually. He also knew Xelloss might be trying to protect his rather fragile ego.

"Domineering sort? Older, too?" The doctor asked.

"H-How did you know...guess?" Xelloss stammered.

"You seem attracted to that type."

Zelgadiss wondered at that. Lina was unarguably domineering, but not older. Filia too, for that matter, although…no, she and Xelloss scarcely got along. Now, Eris was definitely the little dictator sort. And his mother, Zelas...had been…oh, most definitely, definitely.

The doctor examined and delved into the mother-son problems, ending the discussion with a warning. "If the girl's trying to get you to do things that are wrong, that you feel uncomfortable with or are downright illegal, then speak out and end it if you want. You want to be accepted and loved, we all do, but your neediness might be used against you by others."

"You think he seeks out girls like his mother to abuse him?" Zel blurted out.

"Not exactly," Dr Lester replied. "Not on purpose. It's something for you, Xelloss, to be aware of and to avoid."

Xelloss nodded silently, and then said in a small voice, "You're right. She got me into a bit of trouble with Rezo. It's all mostly settled now, I think, but it left me wondering and wanting out of the relationship. I know what I want...in a girlfriend. The one I'm thinking of, well, she's bossy but not mean and she'd never ever try and get me into any kind of trouble– more the opposite."

"Sounds okay. Anyone I know?" The doctor smiled. "No, you don't have to tell me. So, can you tell if she's interested in you?"

"Ah, that's the problem. She's...not interested at all yet. Guys like me are friends, at best, and romance belongs in novels– that's her attitude."

"Not to mention another one of the band is crazy about her and seems to have a special thing with her, _Xelloss_," Zelgadiss added.

"Just go back to your own shell and keep your advice to yourself," Xelloss retorted. He was sensitive about the band inter-relationships, especially when Zel was applying his superior attitude liberally.

"My shell? How about your dreamland romantic notions?" Zel was not to be outdone. 

"Now, now, cut the bickering or we'll not have time for our regular topic for both you guys."

Bickering? Xelloss and Zel looked at one another and shrugged. They thought they were carrying on an ordinary dialogue. The doctor did manage to stifle that, however.

"How are the mood swings these days?" This Dr. Lester directed at no particular boy. The doctor was looking at his notepad. 

He received no reply either. After another moment of silence he expanded on the theme. "You know the signs I'm looking out for: extreme irritability, changes in sleep patterns or appetite, inability to concentrate, low energy level, frequent complaints of head or stomach aches, excessive guilt, suicidal thoughts or behavior, and an inability to experience pleasure."

"You just ran through Zelgadiss' inventory of behaviors!" Xelloss said jokingly. 

Zel's warning growl barely preceded his punch to Xelloss' arm. "I'm _not_ depressed. _You_ make me irritable, but for _obvious_ reasons. I sleep just fine, _when_ I'm at home, now that I _HAVE_ a home to go _home_ to. I also _eat_ just fine, _if _I'm the cook… And, if you think that I can't _concentrate, then_... Put down that paperclip before you..."

ping

Xelloss had bent the clip into a spring and sent it flying into the air. 

"Now _where_ was I? Oh, yes...why _I_ can't seem to _concentrate_... I wonder?! What else…oh, yes… **Energy level**... Well, when I _do_ eat and sleep and I am _not_ climbing mountains, stealing cars, and fighting for my life, then my energy level is just fine to stay up doing chemistry lab write-ups or study notes or practicing for stressful band concerts!"

"You can't deny the aches and pains!" Xelloss pointed out with a smile.

"You're right. When I'm upset, I get stomach aches. You get migraines. It was worse when we were living with shudder Rezo and Zelas. That was a slow but inevitable death by association with the devil and her spouse!"

"We could have moved out or run away. But YOU wanted to stay. I call that suicidal." Xelloss was truly enjoying himself now. Persecuting Zelgadiss, when he was also in the mood to wrangle in return was so much fun.

"I-I wish we had, actually. It wasn't right, I thought at the time, but now... Maybe we could have avoided so much if we had run off. I feel bad about it..." Zel began.

"**Guilt**! You _heard_ him doctor! And I can tell you, forget about him experiencing pleeeeeasure. Not my little brother!" Xelloss ducked another blow, this time a fist aimed at his head. Not a serious attempt, however, since Zel was so quick he could have connected had he meant to.

"Okay boys..." the doctor cajoled. "I get the point. You're not depressed, but you have more than your share of problems. I'd like to treat you both as if you were at risk, though, and recommend a plan of treatment..."

"No meds, pills, drugs of any kind!" Xelloss insisted. "NO PROZAC! I'll not buy or take them."

"Xelloss settle down and listen, please." Dr. Lester sighed and continued. "I wasn't going to prescribe any drugs, just advise you both. Here, I'll write it out: 1) Xelloss--return to your priest duties. 2) Zelgadiss– ask Mrs. Scherer, your father's housekeeper, to fix up your dinners Monday through Thursday. 3) Both of you-- reduce your workload at school to the bare minimum, say… part-time at the university by winter break... and get more exercise...swimming."

"Swimming?!" Both Xelloss and Zel croaked.

"Yes. There's a university pool, one at the community center, and a few private ones not far from..." The doctor paused. "What's the problem? You both can swim, can't you?"

Xelloss frowned and shook his head side-to-side, "Noooooooo..."

Zelgadiss explained, "I learned, but I can't float. I just sink. And, Xelloss never had lessons. Not to mention our…skin flaws…"

"I see. Just a minute. Lucille?" The doctor called his receptionist into the room. "Is your daughter still at the Athletic Club? I need to find a swim teacher for these boys and I hope she might know of a good one."

"Well, Dr. Lester, you are in luck. Both my daughters work there now, and the youngest is going to be the children's swim instructor. You boys look a bit old, though. How old are you?"

"Nineteen," Xelloss asserted.

"Nearly," Zel corrected him.

"Oh, you're just her age then. I bet she'd get a kick out of having you two nice boys to train. Give me a minute and I'll give her a call."

Before they could protest, Lucille was gone.

"Oh, joy..."

"My thoughts exactly... Xelloss groused mostly to himself. "I hate getting my hair wet. Even conditioner won't save it from the chlorine! What if it bleaches to _lavender,_ Zelgadiss? Then there's the water in my nose...ears...nasty, nasty stuff. Full of germs and baby pee..." 

With the air of professionalism one would expect from the best of office help, Lucille knocked first, then entered, "Good news, boys! Monday through Friday evenings from 7 to 8. You're booked!"

Xelloss smiled, "Ah, too bad...we have chemistry lab on Thursday night. I guess we'll have to put it off till another time." 

"Oh, just go in on Saturday morning, 5:30 AM. She'll fit you in with the lap swimmers. It's important that you go frequently to build the muscle and practice, practice, practice. Will there be anything else, doctor?"

"Yes, Xelloss needs the number for the director for the Center for Neuro Skills and Adult Activities Center, please." Dr Lester said with difficulty keeping his professional demeanor. He nearly burst at the seams from trying to hold in the laughter bubbling up. Zel and Xelloss looked miserable and beaten. "Now guys, just give it a go for a few months...until winter, deal? Take this list and let's fight the stress with counseling, activity, and fun with your friends."

There was another knock at the door. "Yes, Lucille?"

"I have a picture here of the pool. There's a weight room too, if you boys want to bulk up a bit." She handed Zelgadiss a brochure from the Athletic Club and Xelloss and a business card with the Neuro center information. Pointing to the brochure in Zel's hand she said, "That's my oldest, in the photo page 3...and there's my youngest in the picture below that. Isn't she a peach?"

Xelloss peeked over Zel's shoulder. Oh wow. He could appreciate beauty, too. 

"They're both...lovely women, Mrs.?" Xelloss began.

"Lucille. Call me Lucille. Yes, they certainly are, as you say, lovely women. I think so too. Enjoy the lessons."

Xelloss smiled at Zel and said, "Well, let's look on the bright side..."

"You're not giving up girls now are you?" Zel said with a little smirk.

"No, not juuuuust yet, I guess!" And Xelloss giggled in excitement.

"And now, it is time for me to lock up and go home," said the doctor, standing.

"To your wife and kids?" Xelloss asked. He was feeling much better now.

"Ah...not exactly. Something like that, though."

"You are being evasive, aren't you?"

"And you are prying. I'm paid to pry, not you."

Xelloss laughed, "I just say _'that's a secret'_!"

"And piss off everybody," Zel added. "Good night, Dr. Lester. Thanks for all the advice and time. Come on, brother-you're-not, let's leave this poor man to his private life and get back to our own. We have a couple stops to make on the way." He smiled at the doctor on the way out, and then said, "Mrs. Scherer is one and the shrine is the other."

Dr. Lester returned Xelloss' wave and Zel's smile, "Bye... Until next month...take care and remember, Xelloss, you have a good heart but you mustn't feel obliged to pour money into every needy organization."

"I don't," Xelloss insisted. "I think of it as a way to help other kids that were victims of abuse or something…either that or I'm simply investing in my retirement villa!" He may have been serious, or not-- couldn't tell by his smile.

Dr. Lester was left with his final musings and notes to write. He had been worried about them since the numerous phone calls he'd received from a few of the boys' concerned friends. Luna had called him to report her apprehensions for Xelloss and his unhealthy involvement with older women. Lina-- that was a surprise, getting a phone call from her-- had mentioned the same thing, but seemed more bothered about Zelgadiss' moodiness and growing paranoia. Val had called to discuss changing his last name, and then he added a few well-chosen words of his own describing the chaos at home. Val, bothered by chaos? Zelgadiss was impatient, demanding… stretched. Xelloss was acting like an airhead, half there at times, always running late. 

So after seeing and talking to these two, how did he feel about them now? He frowned and rubbed his temples. Unfortunately, the doctor felt no better about two of his three 'boys', his _disturbed _teenage boys. Val, the new guy, er, dude. For all his problems in the past, he was starting out his last year of high school with the best mental attitude ever. Of the three, he was the most improved. Xelloss, chaos kid. He continued to be shattered and scattered. He might never progress much further. Zelgadiss, at risk. He was in the high category for a kid at risk of depression without more help. Dr. Lester wrote: 'Ask Dr. Adams about scar removal', and underlined it twice. He closed the folder, grabbed his jacket, and left the office for the day. 

~*~

Knock, knock

Val opened the door expecting Zel or Xelloss, but was pleasantly surprised. "Lina? Hey, it's been…a few hours. Come on in and take a load off. Wanna soda? Uh, I ain't cleaned up the leftovers yet, want somethin'? Zel cooked it. Gour-may Chinese chicken salad."

"Yeah, yes to it all," Lina said as she fell into a chair by the table. "Nice place, Val. I get a tour ta go with all this?"

"Yeah. Thought you'd rather eat first."

"Like taming the beast?" Lina laughed. "I already ate before comin'. Hey, put that back! I didn't say I wouldn't eat that, just later, after the tour! Now show me your room."

"I love it when chicks tell me that," Val quipped, wagging his eyebrows at her.

"You wish…" she returned, swiping at him and connecting with his arm. "Black! Gods, Val, how do you find anything in here? This is really awful and…I like it!"

"I do it by touch," he said, then added in a husky voice, "Just step a little closer… OUCH! Hey! I was just jokin' kiddo!"

"I know, that's why I didn't hit hard," Lina chuckled at her own joke. "Now Zel's. No, let me guess… this one with the KEEP OUT sign."

Val nodded and she opened the door. "Beast!" Lina greeted the bounding dog. "Did I wake you up big boy? You happy here in your new digs, yeah? Wow, he keeps it clean, eh?"

"He's not here much. We just moved in. He's a slob at heart, give him time." Val closed Zel's door after Lina and the dog left.

"WOW…Xelloss' room, right? Nice décor. He outta be a decorator... No, scratch that. Clean and tasteful. No dust. He live here?"

"Not much," Val said. "'Course, I'm gone on weekends mostly."

Breezily Lina said, "He'll be around more, now that Eris is out of the picture."

That Val didn't know. As Lina filled him in on the Eris-Rezo story of late, Val became more thoughtful; his mind traveling far and wide. And he had thought Filia was safe going with Xelloss. Now he wasn't so sure.

"So, you guys getting along okay here together?" Lina asked, bringing him back into this time zone.

"Yeah. Now that classes are about ta start and that contest is over, I'm feelin' better."

"Tangible stress, huh? I bet with Zel and Xelloss around."

"Yeah, that's what the problem was. I, uh, called that shrink, Dr. Lester."

"Eh?" Lina was curious now.

"Yeah, I wanted ta pass some ideas to him. Oh, by the way—you may call me Mr. Agares from now on." He grinned proudly at having pulled one on Lina.

"Agares? A-gaar-ays? Huh?"

"I dropped the Gaav and went back to my family name. All formal and on the books."

"Val Agares…" Lina repeated in wonderment. "Good job! I like the sound of that!" She clapped him on the bare back for good measure. 

He chuckled at the thought of all the bruises he'd have after just one of Lina's friendly visits. "Outside, we're puttin' in the hottub, decking, showers over there, changin' room for the shy, and some garden stuff. 'Bout done by the weekend, I hope."

"Did you say anything else? To the Shrink. About…Zel and Xelloss, I mean." Lina shot Val a quick look to the side, then back to the door as they re-entered the kitchen.

"Yeah. I'm thinkin' now I outta call him back and tell him I was fulla shit. They're not as screwed up as I made 'em out ta be, just …"

Lina nodded and finished for him, "Two more messed up teenage guys doing all right for themselves. Yeah…I called the doc too. Mostly about Zel. He was getting' all paranoid on me, but then, he was just bein' watchful and caring, now that I think about it. Xelloss, I was worried about that Eris witch, but he was able to take care of her too, with just a bit of unveiling work on my part." Lina downed her soda and started on the salad.

"They should be getting' back from seein' him soon. Probably made a stop or two on the way home, or they'd be here by now," Val said checking the new clock Zel had hung up recently over the table and beside the wall-mounted calendar.

"I hear Zel's car," Lina mumbled through a mouthful of food.

"Ahooooooooooooooooo…"

"So does Beast," Val agreed. 

Zelgadiss and Xelloss entered the house looking worn and shell-shocked. Lina noticed immediately and felt guilty somehow. The good head doctor probably put them through the wringer, and for what? Because she had called like Val had, beset with worries, setting them up for a lengthy trial.

"Hey guys, listen, I gotta tell you that...I'm really sorry 'bout all that," she began. Waiting until they both got over the shock of hearing her apologize, she continued. "I was me, my fault. I called the shrink cause I was all messed up 'bout Zel and his rising paranoia, which was just him carin' 'bout us and all…"

"Yeah, an' I, well…" Val interrupted. "I called him too. I mighta mentioned how screwed up things were 'round here, but…hey…dudes…we just moved in and its been one thing after another, right? I was outta line callin' him…"

"I feel bad. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have butted in. Yeah. I mean, especially since everything but that band-relations stuff was really just caring…"

Now by this time Lina expected one or both of the guys to come around and spout some soothing platitude like: 'Thanks for telling us. No problem. You were just doing what you thought was best for us. We understand.' You know the lines, right? Well, they didn't. Their dower, stunned (dazed on Xelloss' part) countenances remained unchanged. 

"Zel? Xelloss? I mean, I'm really sorry. I'll call the guy and clear it all up right now, if you like." She actually got as far as picking up the receiver to place the call when Zel's hand on her arm stopped her.

"Sit down, Lina. Please."

The look on Zel's face killed all further impulse to speak or move on her part. "Oh, gods…" she thought. 

Val nudged her over to one of the chairs while he took another. "Okay. Shoot."

"On our way back from Dr. Lester's we made a couple stops, the last at my father's place. We heard sirens." Zel took a ragged breath.

"Oh, please…" Lina thought to herself. "Please…not Rezo…please…"

"We were just _leaving_ his house," Xelloss continued where Zel had left off. "A-and noticed the sounds came from a short distance away…"

"N-not… Gourry's house!" Lina practically screamed in her head.

"…The park, as it turned out," Xelloss said at last. "We just ran to find out what was going on. Zelgadiss…got there first." 

Zel had mustered the strength of mind to go on, when Lina blew, unable to contain her panic. "Something bad's happened to someone I know, right?! Who?!"

"Lina," Zel grabbed her hand, which abruptly shut off her monologue. "H-hokuto. She's been killed."

Xelloss quietly left the room and closed the door to his room as he disappeared inside. Val stared out the window wondering why…why…

Lina crumpled into Zel's arms a moment trembling as sobs poured forth. But only a moment. She pulled herself together and began to talk, "What happened? Tell me…"

"McGywn was there so we learned more than expected. It was like an assassination from a hit man. Quick, direct, then gone." Zel said tonelessly. "Subaru…I told McGywn about him and how close he and his twin sister are…were…and about the grandmother. He's on his way over now to give him the news. I…I identified the body so he won't have to. We'll need to go visit him."

Lina nodded mutely. What could she say? A vibrant, life-loving soul was just blinked out of existence for all time. A friend. Gone.

Zelgadiss stood up. He had no more solace to offer either. Subaru would never get over the loss. "Better check on Xelloss," he muttered standing to leave.

Xelloss however, stormed out of his room, "I should have known!" he shouted angrily. "I should have looked this stuff up a long time ago. I could have stopped it! It's my fault that she died! I could have stopped it!" Tears were streaming down his face. He tore at his hair and pounded the back of a wooden chair hard enough to crack it.

"Xelloss!" Val, Zel, and Lina shouted.

"At the beach house…at the contest… 'The Sakura Burial Mounds' and that poem, called 'The Sakura Murders,' that place is a syndicate headquarters for the Chaotic Blue organization. Don't you get it? That guy, Seishirou, is an assassin from that place! Why he was after Hokuto, I can't imagine, but it was a hit job in their style. Damn! Why hadn't I put it all together before! See! I could have warned them, blown his cover, sent him packing!" Then a strange look crept into his eyes and he whispered, "…packing…I must go…"

"Just a minute, buster!" Lina said backing him up to the couch and pushing him down. "You listen up, and listen good. You are not going anywhere. Hear me?!"

Val stood at the door, arms crossed as if to dare him to get past him first. Zel stood back to Xelloss' bedroom door, stone-faced. Xelloss wasn't going that way either.

Xelloss wiped the moisture from his cheeks furiously, and then hid his face on his knees, which were drawn up to his chest.

Lina decided that he was ready to listen. "First of all, it wasn't your fault. You couldn't have done a thing. It happened too fast. Secondly, it's not your fight. That's right. Another group, another place. McGywn's no doubt got the CIA on it as we speak." She looked up at Zelgadiss who was nodding his concurrence before going on. "He musta said something about that to ya at the park, right? Yeah, he's no dummy, Xelloss. Let them take care of this, this time. Had you supposed to have been involved, doncha think Seishirou would have used you? He didn't, did he? No. See? Even he knew that it wasn't your fight. Ya gotta let this go. If you must do something, go with Zel to Subaru. Now there's a kid you can do something for. He's got ta live with the loss for the rest of his life! Imagine what all he must have known about that guy, all the clues, the secrets—and _he_ couldn't stop it. He'll be blaming himself forever. Don't you do the same, 'kay?"

Xelloss sniffled, desperately trying to get his voice under control to speak coherently. "I-I gotta go. I…have to stop the syndicate, no matter where. Tear them all down. S-stop them all! That's all I'm good for."

That sniveling, self-indulgent jabber earned him a painful punch in the arm from Lina. "Oh, stop with the self-absorbed pathetic blather, you idiot!" Lina said tenderly. "Nonsense! All of it! You can do lots of things. You have countless options!"

Xelloss looked up and rubbed his blood-shot eyes, "Right. I count, ah…none. Yeah that's countless, thanks."

This time Lina whacked him on the head with a pillow. Zelgadiss quickly sped to the couch and removed all the pillows, including that one. The couch was new! "Who said you could talk?!" she yelled. "It's my turn to rant! You're in college already. You can be a scientist or something!"

"I can't concentrate on that stuff, Lina."

"You're a computer whiz. Lots of jobs there!"

Xelloss shrugged. Not interested. "And don't mention the karate job because that's out for good, thanks to my helpful doctor! I'm more likely to be committed again, I just know! I even got a look inside my future nuthouse!"

Lina winced a bit, remembering her perceived role in all that. "Yeah, well…about the shrink…I have a confession to make about that…"

"Me too," Val added. "Let me, Lina. We, ah… both called him to complain a bit about you both…"

Zel raised his eyebrows at that.

"But we got ta talkin' and comparin' notes and, well, yer not getting' worse or par-a-noid or nothin' new… We were all stressed, what with the screwed up summer and the contest an' all." Val looked away, regretting that phone call more and more.

"Yeah, and we were about to call him back and tell him..." Lina began.

"…We were fulla shit and yer both okay. Better than that…tough." Val pounded his fist into his open hand, emphasizing his words.

"Ah…thanks," Zel murmured. "The doctor didn't think we were doing particularly great. He's probably telling Dr. Adams to find me a skin cure immediately or I'll jump off a cliff. He thinks I'm depressed, I think."

"Depressed?" Lina shot her old buddy a quick ruby look. "He just doesn't know ya, either of ya! Xelloss, yer not nuts and Zel's not clinical. That shrink doesn't know you guys like I do, right Val?"

Val nodded. "The man don't know shit. I had ta explain why I wanted to keep my first name Valentine and just change the last. I had to tell him that I wanted my birthright back, all of it. It wasn't just about droppin' the Gaav name. He wanted to discuss my 'feeeee-lings' about havin' a name like that. Buncha crap…"

"Back to Xelloss…" Lina reminded him. 

"You own a dance studio," Zel said. "Right, Xelloss?"

"Yeah. Oh sure, I can be a dancer. Like that will win me dozens of points with the girls…" Xelloss sighed.

"Do I have to get rough with you?" Lina asked, poking Xelloss in the ribs. "You don't have to dance…you can, what? You have money, a studio, you like musicals…" Her face lit up. "I got it! You can produce musicals! Your studio expands!"

Xelloss sparked by Lina's enthusiasm, smiled a bit and repeated, "Musicals."

"Yeah… We have a band, we write music-- why not an entire musical?!" Lina shouted.

"Certainly, why not _several_?" Zel muttered half to himself.

Lina cast him fiery glare, "Will the cynic please clam up?!"

"We can write one, together," Xelloss said.

"Yeah! We can tell our story to the world!" Lina laughed.

"Oh, joy…"

"Change the names, okay?" asked Val.

"Maybe we shouldn't be high school kids either."

"No?" Xelloss wondered at Lina. "What should we be, sorcerers and demons? Dragons and magic users?"

Lina's eyes flamed up, "Yes! We're sorcerers, at least I'm the greatest sorceress of all time, Amelia a lesser one—all good and full of hope and duty."

"And a princess, of Seyruun, I think," Xelloss added.

"I get a sword at least," Zel said. "Or leave me out altogether."

"Oh, no…you'll be in it for sure, only you can be…a shaman master. Yes…and Filia…what's she?" Lina looked thoughtful a second.

"She likes fairy-stuff and dragons a lot," Val offered, getting into it now.

"Fairy…no, too trite… A dragon, I think. She'll be a dragon princess or something." Lina smiled.

"Priestess," Xelloss corrected Lina. "Like she is now, but a dragon one. Sylphiel…"

"Yeah, she and Amelia can be White Shrine priestesses with some magic thrown in to make them interesting," Lina said.

Frowning a bit, Val noted, "Does that make me a dragon too?"

"Yeah, but a special, dark one…the last of your kind, twisted and bent up by…the evil… demons!" Lina chortled in glee.

"Demons. I suppose I am a prince then?" Xelloss asked.

"Prince?" Lina laughed. "Priest!"

"That sounds dull," Xelloss maintained.

"A priest to a dark demon lord. Her servant sent to track us and lead us into sordid missions of your own tortuous concoction," Lina dropped her voice menacingly.

Xelloss smiled, "Oh, I get it! I get to be Puck all over again!"

"Oh, joy…" Zel repeated in a sigh. Val muttered something less complimentary.

"Oh, and I'm not through with you, Zel my friend," Lina promised with an odd gleam in her eye. "Gourry will be a …"

"Knight in shining armor?" Xelloss proposed.

"Eh? Too dignified, but something like that…" Lina answered.

"A mercenary, to protect you from the ruffians you haven't the time to take care of yourself," Zel smirked.

"Okay, that will do for him," Lina grinned a dreadfully evil grin. "You will be…part demon, part human…trapped in body of…stone! Cursed by your own grandfather! Strong and powerful…"

"Beloved by the little princess despite your appearance," Xelloss smiled at Zel's discomfort. "Oh, I like this, Lina. I like this a lot! Will you really so this with me? Write it and all?"

"Oh yeah! Much better than our true story, in a way. This musical will be more believable!" Lina laughed.

Val and Zel shook their heads. "I can't believe this…"

"Yeah! And we'll call it THE SLAYERS!" Lina and Xelloss exclaimed in agreement.

This is the end of the summer special story. Why? Because the summer is over! Now that the new school year is beginning for the Slayers, look for the next sequel called: 

**_Seyruun High Jinx-- NEXT_!**

~*~ End Seyruun Summer High Jinx Special, Part Twenty-eight, Done. ~*~


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